Bloody Hell
by NeddieSeagoon
Summary: Four Bodies. One hungover welshman becoming ill. Something nightmarish has emerged from the rift and set up base... and it wants blood.  Set in Season 2 just after "Meat"
1. If I wanted this sort of Harrasment

Friday Night.

Chasing weevils. Running hard, punch the bastard. Nearly killed (nothing new). 6 am, sun comes up, greasy spoon breakfast. Nearly fall asleep in the bacon. Back to the hub, crash.

Coffee, shower, clothes, shave, dinner, movie. Whiskey, sexual Olympics. Roll over go to sleep.

Wake up. Doze. Sex. Get up. Brunch. Basketball, heavy tackle, Jack sniggers. Dead leg. Back to bed. Sexual Paralympics. Supper, Whiskey, More sex. Sleep.

Bloody Monday again.

Monday night.

The music was rubbish. The club was sub-standard. Of all the ways he could be spending tonight. Some sort of rift activity? The only activity in here seemed to be wallflower shyness clinging to the edge of the room versus drunken hopes and attempts at true love. Or a quick shag. Whichever was preferable. Ianto downed his bottle of Corona and walked towards the men's. Owen made no attempt to look like he was having a good time, even when Toshiko looked at him hopefully.

What the bloody hell was he doing there? How had he ended up here? Ok, Jack's idea, that he should go along. Yes, very funny. Bastard. Ianto felt too old for this matchmaking shit, yet he was by far one of the younger people in the room.

How long were they going to go on pretending nothing was happening? Sooner or later everyone was going to realise they weren't working at weekends. Ianto did sort of dread the moment everyone was going to know, mostly because it wouldn't take long before Owen started on the "He's only taking your side cause your shagging him." Owen was like a kid at times, he looked to Jack for everything too often. One of the few things Ianto didn't need from Jack was his approval. Love, compassion, friendship and sex were a given. But he was still a knob for making him go with Tosh and Owen.

One more drink, then he'd go. Didn't want Tosh to feel bad, then again, when she did find out about him and Jack it made Ianto look far better than Owen who had to be duped into coming. Lucky Gwen, at home with Rhys eating dinner, planning a wedding and having palpitations over how the hell she was going to pay for it. He'd take that over the dank smell of the clubs toilets any day- and at this point he became horribly aware that someone was watching him in the act. Slightly flattering but also disturbing and un-nerving. He looked up to see a blonde woman eying some of his more personal attributes. He cleared his throat and she smiled sweetly, as if the eye contact they made was the only thing that had passed between them.

"Are you lost love?" He managed to blurt out, a little more confident than usual and less reserved from 2 for 1 larger. "Ladies is the door on the left."

Went to the sink. Rinsed his hands. Her eyes followed him across the room. Weird. But he'd had weirder things than this happen today at work so he let it pass.

Ianto stepped out the door and started to make his way back towards Tosh and Owen when his wrist was grabbed at full force and yanked into facing the girl. She tried to kiss him, and suddenly he was repulsed by her, like he could see something but only for a fleeting second, it didn't really register mentally, but something in his brain flashed up as wrong. He shoved her away from him. A little too powerfully. FUCK. That just looked bad.

He wanted out now. Tosh and Owen looked over. The Corals Dreaming of You started to play.

That's it. That's the last thing he wanted to hear right now. Owen mouthed to him as to what the fuck he was doing, to which Ianto waved dismissively and went to the door. People were still looking. That pissed girl no-where to be seen.

Is shoving common assault? Then again he could defend with sexual harassment. No, it was nothing. Put it out of his mind and get out of here. Don't walk. Might get mugged. Taxi. Rounded the corner out of sight of smokers and pukers from the club. Bloody Monday.

Out of nowhere she grabbed him again and threw him against the wall outside. This time he couldn't throw her off in time. She kissed him, hard on the mouth. Shoved her off again. She smiled and sniffed the air. Then walked off. Twilight zone. What the fuck? Ohhh, what's that?

Fuzzy head, strangely drunk. Really weird. Somehow he hailed a cab, and through tripping over his tongue asks for Roald Dahl plass. Two weeks later he remembered the cab driver telling him it was a thirty quid charge for throwing up. He held it back. He got his phone out and called Jack.


	2. Owen smells innuendo a mile off

Tuesday.

Fuzzy tongue, thumping head. The light flicked on and the door closed.

Dehydrated, pulls the covers over his head. Last night still ringing in his ears. Ianto didn't make it home again last night. This wasn't his flat, the room was damp from its subterranean position, and the duvet smelled like Jack.

"Fuck'n hell…" he drawled from under the sheets.

"You do this to yourself." Came Jacks voice slightly muffled by the duvet, trying hard not to sound too much like his mother. He pulled the duvet back and Ianto grimaced, even the un-natural light of the room was too much for him.

An un-amused chuckle came from Ianto, "Heh-heh, cause I really wanted to go last night. How did I get yerh?"

Jack looked like he'd been up for hours, yet still didn't look tired. Did he really not have to sleep? Immortality must be really shit.

"You showed up about half one drunk as hell, and very suggestive I might add. Although you insisted I come up to the Plass and get you." Jack was holding a cup of coffee. Well, that was the least he could have done. Ianto sat up and took it. It was black and very sweet.

"Did anything happen?" He held the coffee away for a moment, before realising it was already a few minutes old, therefore safe to drink. Why had he put sugar in it?

Jack smiled and shook his head. "You passed out. After that I slipped you over my shoulder and listened to you snore all night."

"Yeah well, you made the bed so I got to lie in it."

"So how was it?" Jack sat beside him, wondering if he'd get his comeuppance for volunteering Ianto for last night. He'd already been called a knob as Ianto walked out the door.

"Singles night? I ended up coming back yer. Endeavour was rendered a little pointless, given the nature of the nights theme ." Ianto yawned. Last night was a blurry mess but waking up here had meant no undue conduct had taken place. "What's the time?"

"About five-thirty. And that was surprisingly cogent"

"Five thirty?" Ianto contemplated, passing his cup back to Jack." I'm desperately hung-over and you've woken me up at the crack of doom."

"Sorry, I'm not doing this for shits and giggles. We've got work to do. There's three cold bodies at Cathays cemetery."

Ianto flopped back down . "Only three?" He tried to quip, but from the lack of response he assumed they weren't the buried dead. "Can't they wait? They're not going to be any more dead by the time we get there. What's more I may well be."

"And with this attitude we'd never get anything done." Jack ripped the duvet off the bed . "Up, Shave, Eat… gargle. You've got about twenty minutes. "

More coffee. That was the driving thought now he was on his feet. He was so barely paying attention the cup almost overflowed.

Jack emerged from his office, holding his mobile in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. "You know for a twenty four seven organisation we don't do so well. Why the hell does no-one answer their phone before five? It took me eight tries to get Gwen."

"Because sane people with real jobs aren't up at stupid hours." Ianto spoke through another yawn, a waspish tone filtering through.

"Well, that accounts for Owen picking up before the first ring was over. " Jack smiled, "What's this bill for flowers on my desk?"

"Oh that. I got bored and thought I'd squander the company credit card on making a display of Daffodils that spell Cymru from space."

Jack laughed, "Cogent yet ridiculous."

"Well, I thought about something a little more anti-English but it's not really in the spirit of Torchwood."

Jack was tempted to retort, but was more interested in getting a real answer. "What's it for?"

"They're for Tosh. "It's" singular by the way"

Confusion appeared on Jacks face. He thought about it. He stood opposite Ianto and folded his arms. Cogs failed to turn.

"For the paper she wrote." Ianto explained, Jack looked at him blankly. "Got published. Jumping round very excited last week." Jack shook his head. "Is your brain deficient?"

"No need to be like that." Jack touched him on the arm, not accepting Ianto being hung-over as an excuse for being pissy, even if Jack's grammar was bad.

"Well, the only way you could have missed it was if you were blind and drastically impaired in the other four senses."

Bringing his other arm down, Jack touched Ianto on his side. "You keep this up and I'll bend you over my desk."

The mood shifted. Ianto's eyebrows raised and he smiled, "Oh these promises you make." Jack pulled him against him, taking a moment to squeeze his buttock. Tension turned in a completely different direction. Jesus. Ianto's heart started thumping against his ribs. His hands gripped Jack's sides. Strange, halted, knowing that if they started they wouldn't stop. Jack's breath against his cheek. His lips brushed against it but before anything could transpire the door rolled back and with a grimace and schoolboy chuckle Jack stood away.

"Morning," Owen announced coming through the door. "Ianto, you look like shit."

"And a good morning to you too." Ianto mumbled through his fuzzy tongue. Hands almost shaking as Jack walks away. Their eyes meet and Ianto smiles and almost swallows his lip.

" I could have sworn you weren't that drunk last night."

"I dunno, I don't remember." He half shrugged, not really caring about anything Owen said. Jack stood with a landline phone to his ear, waiting for it to stop ringing.

"You don't remember the blonde?" Owen asked, vaguely aware that he may be stirring something between Jack and Ianto. No way had Ianto made it in this morning. He must've already been there.

Jack chimed in, holding the phone away from his ear for a second, sounding slightly amused, and if Ianto hadn't known better slightly jealous. "There was a blonde?"

"Bloody gorgeous one. Tries it with boy wonder here and he throws her off. I'd love to be able to throw women away like that."

Jack failed to get through and started to leave Toshiko a message on her answer phone. He began to wonder what the hell her and Ianto had been drinking last night.

"I really don't remember." Ianto said, not really to anyone. It was much too distant to be regarded as a proper memory, it only really fell into place since that Owen mentioned it.

"Well, enjoy it while it lasts. The minute you get over twenty five it's all over."

"Speak for yourself. " Jack intoned as he hung the phone up . " I can't get Toshiko, I left her a message. Gwen's says to pick her up on the way. "

As Owen disappeared into the autopsy room to grab his bag, Jack walked back over to Ianto. "Blonde? I didn't think you were into Blondes."

Angry now. "O.K, so maybe there was. So what? You sent me there. I'd've much rather been here. What the hell did you send me out for anyway?"

"You've been here a lot lately..."

"Right. So you couldn't just tell me that." Ianto shook his head, didn't say what he was thinking and walked away.


	3. Tosh is unfashionably late

Ianto felt green. The motion of the SUV was a little too much for him, he wondered if his empty stomach was a good or bad thing. He should have called shotgun. His stomach jolted again as the SUV halted in a street and Gwen hauled herself into the back. Jack eyed him in the rear-view mirror.

"Morning," she said pulling the seatbelt across her chest. "What are we up for?"

"Corpses," Jack announced much too cheerfully, "Three of them. And a lovely morning it is for it." Jack turned the windscreen wipers on. The sea mist was dense enough to make everything it came into contact with wet , it streaked the streetlights and destroyed their definition, hiding the dawn behind thick grey clouds.

Gwen wiped her face, glad she hadn't had time to put any make up on as it would have melted on contact with the outside air. She looked across to Ianto, even in the dim light she could see he looked very pale. She reached across and touched his arm. "You alright sweetheart?"

He almost jumped a foot in the air from her touching him. That was weird, it was like she'd crept up on him and sent all the unpleasant nerve impulses possible to the back of his neck. Ianto pushed his feet into the floor and kept his toes from curling, and made sure he didn't react. "Sweetheart" he thought, he must look bad if sweethearts coming out. "Bit hungover," He breathed, "Could have done without the early morning."

She smiled back at him. Just his luck getting an early morning call out. He looked jittery though, he'd twitched when she touched him. "Just don't chuck up in my direction, these shoes are new."

He smiled, still looking rough, but not feeling bright enough to retort. He was getting worse, his brain was stalling, it was probably just the motion. Think about something else. "How's Rhys?"

"Oh, a bit sore. Milking it for every penny it's worth, he 's upset he can't show everyone his bullet wound."

"I knew a guy with a shoulder wound, cut a hole right through him. Liked to hide things in it, sometimes he'd pull a string of hankeys through it." Jack added to the conversation, aware that he was pushing in. He shook his eyes off Ianto and back onto the road.

"That's disgusting," Owen chimed in, "And bloody painful as well."

Ianto opened the window, breathing in the cold damp air. He wasn't sure it made him feel any better. He felt clammy under his shirt and was glad not to have opted for the waistcoat that lay discarded by Jacks' bed. Finally the SUV stopped moving and Ianto was the first out.

The cemetery looked Hammer horror foreboding. The pre-dawn light and mist swirled around the gravestones, half shrouding the landscape from mortal eyes. The police in their high vis jackets were still apparent but the spires atop the gothic structure of the chapels disappeared into the sky. They trudged across the path, still picking up dew from the grass that trailed onto the path, from a distance a familiar voice shouted to them.

"Took your bloody time, Gwen," came from the voice of a sleep deprived and soaked PC Andy.

"Lovely to see you too, Andy. Who found the bodies?"

"Renovators. Came to start at five and found three bodies, called us and we called you."

"OK, what do you need us for?" Jack butted in.

Andy sighed and folded his arms. "Because Agent Mulder, nothing says spooky like bite marks on the neck."

First victim, blonde, female, early thirtys. Slightly overweight. Her neck was punctured with cainines that could have ripped her throat out. Owen carefully probed about the neck with a gloved hand. Something bothered him. Maybe it was the way the victims had been tucked in with blankets like sleeping children.

Jack crouched beside him while Gwen and Ianto stood back. "Cause of death?" Jack asked as Owen worked.

"Well, at a glance I'd say blood loss or venom injected with fangs. Thing is, the puncture marks aren't huge, and there's hardly a drop of blood on her."

"It looks... ritualised." Gwen stated, unsure if she'd just invented a word.

"Could be," Jack stated, "Ianto, Gwen, check the other bodies. See if they're all the same."

Gwen approached the second body, pulled the blanket back. Male, mid fifties. Puncture wounds on the neck. "Two puncture wounds."

Ianto pulled the blanket back. Just a kid, barely eighteen. She still had bad skin. Something else caught his eye, a small blue fingernail reaching up. He pulled the blanket back further. Oh Fuck.

He couldn't breathe. His mouth filled with Saliva, head spinning, bile rising. He turned and ran for the outside with a hand covering his mouth. He'd been expecting to vomit for the last ten minutes, but he never saw that coming. He'd always hoped never to think about Lisa crying on the bathroom floor again.

Jack grabbed Gwen before she could turn around. "Don't look. Just go after him." She nodded and went, wondering what was so bad Jack didn't want her to see. Jack turned to Owen, who looked disgusted at what he saw. "Can you deal with this?" Owen nodded, but looked bleak and Jack headed out the door.

Ianto leant forward, his back against the wall, almost doubled over. His stomach ached from throwing up empty, his throat burned. Gwen put her hand on his shoulder and Andy passed a bottle of water. Jack appeared, looked Andy squarely in the eye and told him he needed to learn to count.

Fingers trembled, fumbled with his tie until Ianto eventually ripped it out from under the collar. He shed his jacket and let it fall to the ground, the smell of vomit now on it and making him feel like going for a second round. Owen was never going to let him live this down.

Reaching out, Jack touched Ianto on the shoulder. "You O.K?"

Ianto shook his head and exhaled slowly. "What the hell would do that?" His voice sounded strangled and weak, "It was just a baby." Gwen looked to Jack. For a moment she'd feared it had been gender biased coddling. But on reflextion she was glad he'd grabbed her. Poor Ianto. She squeezed Ianto's arm and moved away beside Andy, who was still fuming from having Jack snap at him.

"Think you can go back in?" Jack asked, squeezing at Ianto's shoulder.

Looking over from a distance, Andy saw Jack reach over with his other arm and hold onto Ianto. It looked like a strange sort of embrace. Weird.

"No." Ianto shook his head, "Can't. Sorry." Fucking hell, why didn't he just say it. He didn't give the explanation then. Like if he didn't say it hadn't been real.

"O.K. No one's gonna make you. " Ianto's breathing shallowed and quickened, as if trying to fight off his upset. "Take a deep breath."

There was a long exhale, and proceeding it came clarity and calm, or at least as much as Ianto could muster. "I'm O.K."

"Take a walk," Jack advised, "Clear your head." Ianto nodded and their eyes met. Jack tapped him on the cheek before heading back inside.

Turning to Gwen, Andy commented, not liking being reprimanded by Torchwood. "Bloody hell, does he always get this pissy when one of his bum-chums gets sick?"

Gwen looked at Andy coldly. He wondered what he'd said. "That's not very nice Andy."

"Oh come on Gwen, I was only pissing around."

She stepped towards Andy, looking less than friendly. "Yeah well they're not."

The cogs take a second to move before Andy realises what she's said. "Oh... well." Andy looks over at Ianto who was fortunately out of earshot. "I'll keep my bloody mouth shut then. I could've sworn Mulder was into you."

Gwen walked away from Andy, stopped to squeeze Ianto on the arm and went back inside. Andy broke his gaze away, still slightly confused as to Gwen's boss dating one of her workmates. As Andy walked away, he saw out the corner of his eye Ianto shifting from his position at the chapel wall.

Finding himself alone, Ianto started walking away from the crime scene. It wasn't light yet but the cloud was starting to break. He shivered, should've brought a coat, or should've not thrown up over his Jacket He didn't leave the line of sight of the chapels, which had gained a few hundred feet with the lifting of the mist. He was still shaken, but having Jack there had helped. Hearing calm and understanding rather than pressure to get back on the horse, no gung ho take it like a man crap.

He turned to realise he had wandered almost out of sight of the chapels, they were murky shadows in the distance, it was almost dawn. He was about to head back when a hand grabbed at him.

She was blonde. Beautiful, she smiled at him. He was un-nerved , Ianto knew he had seen her before but-. Owen said there was a blonde last night. She took his hand, pushed his sleeve up his arm and sniffed his wrist. What the hell was this? He couldn't seem to move, or talk. It wasn't fear, he felt tired. Everything went black.

"Ianto. IANTO!"

He was on his feet but his brain told him a few moments had passed. Can you black out if you're stood up? Maybe he imagined it.

"Ianto!" Tosh called to him again as she approached. "Bloody hell I can't believe I slept through Jack calling. Is he mad?"

"What?" Ianto asked, not quite following the English language very well.

"Jack. Is he upset?"

"No erm..." His thoughts didn't go together. It wasn't light a few moments ago, but the sun had appeared on the skyline. What the hell had happened? "No. He's O.K."

Toshiko looked down at Ianto's arm, he hadn't noticed it was bleeding at the wrist. "What happened to your arm?" She asked, genuinely wondering why Ianto was wondering through an empty graveyard on his own, no jacket, no tie.

He looked down, he didn't remember hurting himself. There was a deep scratch across his wrist, it wasn't stitch worthy but it was weeping blood down his arm. "I dunno, " He mumbled, confused. "I guess scratched it." Tosh grabbed a clean tissue out of her pocket and put it over Ianto's wrist before he got blood on his shirt.

"You should be more careful," She said clamping her hand over his wrist, pulling him back towards the Chapels.


	4. Ianto should have stayed in bed

Jack eyed Ianto suspiciously. Ianto didn't want to meet his gaze, he didn't want to look at Jack. Not with the bizarre line of questioning Jack had followed the last few minutes. Owen wrapped the wound up. It was hardly anything, it just seemed to bleed a lot.

"How did you do it?" Jack asked for the third time.

Gritting his teeth, Ianto intoned the same reply. "I don't remember." Why the hell did Jack keep drilling him? It was too warm in the hub, Ianto was sweating. Why was Jack making such a big deal out of it?

"Right," Jack didn't sound convinced as he walked away.

Ianto snatched his wrist away from Owen, Feeling weird about being touched again.

"You're bloody welcome," Owen replied to the action.

" Piss off Owen. When was the last time you thanked me for anything?"

"Oh right, how many GCSE's does it take to make the tea?"

"Fuck off! You're not exactly a great doctor considering most of you patients are corpses."

"Hey!" Jack stopped at the door way and stood there, ready to exert authority over the macho posturing taking place.

"Don't get bitchy with me because you can't take field work. Maybe you should just stay in the office."

"You mean I have a reaction like a person as opposed to an emotional retard."

"Better than unstable and in the closet."

Ianto lunged for Owen but Jack was already down the stairs, grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back. "You. My office. Now."

Jack turned to Owen, "And you. Shut the hell up."

Ianto pretty much kicked the door open. Jack followed him in and shut the door gently.

"Sit down." Jack didn't shout it, but it was still cold. Ianto dropped into a seat at Jacks desk. Jack paced the room, looking furious before putting the desk between him and Ianto. Jack leaned across it, somehow still invading Ianto's personal space in an attempt to be intimidating. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

A vague shrug fell from Ianto's shoulders. He didn't feel well enough for this, and Jacks angry boss routiene didn't wash so well anymore. It was hard to invade someone's personal space when both parties had extreme carnal knowledge of each other.

"Oh, well. I'm glad you've got such a good answer. " He did sound angry though. But Ianto didn't give a damn.

"Fuck off."

He expected Jack to blow up in his face, or to get punched or pinned to the ground. Instead his voice got quieter, but a lot angrier.

"Drop the attitude or get out. I don't have time for it."

"Is that all- Sir?" He saw it cut through Jack. He hated that formality. Jack turned away from him and Ianto stood. He started to leave, and reaching for the door handle he spoke again. Not angry, a genuine question. "Why am I in the shit and Owen gets away with it?"

"Because you're better than that." Ianto turned to him, but Jack didn't look at him. Jack wasn't that upset but he'd need time to cool off. There went sex for the rest of the week.

Ianto stormed down the stairs, palms sweating. He wrenched a cup off the shelf and slammed it down under the coffee machine before pouring steaming hot coffee over his hand. "SHHHIIIT!"

He stepped back, frantically flicking the coffee off his hand. Gwen appeared behind him. "You OK?"

"Yeah," He sighed. It'd only hurt for a moment, but was the perfect culmination of the last few minutes. Ianto moved his other hand to his forehead. Gwen touched him on the arm, this time he didn't flinch.

"Don't let Owen bait you," She said very softly, "He only does it to feel smart." Gwen poured him a coffee and passed it to him, making sure she offered Ianto the handle. He looked bloody awful. "Come on, meeting."

He turned and looked up, Jack was watching from inside the office. They looked at each other for a moment before Jack turned away.

Ianto was too warm, he was uncomfortable and the lights were much too bright. He settled into a chair, coffee in his hand, he didn't drink it. It made him feel ill the minute he got the cup to his lips.

Tired. Very tired. Another boring meeting where they play deduction.

"So a species that goes for the neck. Well that leaves up with about 400 to choose from." Owen informed.

"Could it have been Weevils? Gwen asked.

"No. Puncture marks yes, but they do like to tear out the throat." Jack answered.

"Nothing in the blood?" Tosh asked.

"What was left of it- no. If there was anything in the blood it's died off. No DNA traces, nothing."

Fuzzy. Didn't get enough sleep. Heavy eyelids, coffees not working. Alcohols out of his system now, its something else. Stay awake.

"Four victims. Nothing in common… except mother and child. Gwen can you do a background…"

Jacks voice fades out.

"Gwen can you do a background check into the victims. Make sure we haven't missed something that connects them. Owen, get started on autopsies. Tosh, go through the files on all the victims, try and find something to connect them. Did they go to the same church? Do they know each other on facebook? Are they some kind of cult? Trekies, or Trekers or whatever we're calling them this century. And can someone tell me how long ago Ianto fell asleep?"

Everyone turned. His head was down, he still had his coffee cup gripped in his hand.

"Weird," murmured Jack. Everyone stood and started creeping out.

"Not that weird, he's hung-over Jack. " Owen contributed on his way out.

Jack knelt beside him and prized the coffee out of his hand then rested the cup on the table.

He started to slip out of the chair, Jack grabbed him to make sure he didn't fall which woke him with a start. Ianto looked around and then looked at Jack, he was half in his arms.

"Bugger. Sorry." He shifted back onto the chair, horribly aware that everyone had seen him fall asleep. It hardly made him the model professional.

"Are you OK?"

"I dunno. Not feeling good. That's the third time today."

"You fell asleep, that's what happened?"

"I don't know. I really don't remember. My memory keeps blanking out on me."

Ianto was shaking. His voice sounded weak, and he was sweating. Jack reached out to touch him on the arm, for Ianto to twitch away.

"Hey!" It took Jack a moment to realise that he wasn't being rejected, and that had been involuntary. Jack laid his hand gingerly on Iantos arm. "What's going on? Talk to me."

No words came. Ianto just shook his head. He couldn't put it into words.

Hands reached up and held him by the shoulders, before one slid around the back of Iantos neck. Jack paused a moment. "Jesus Christ." He touched Ianto on both cheeks and on the forehead. "I think you might be right about Owen being a lousy person doctor, you're verging on burning up."

"Should've left me in bed."

"Why the hell didn't you say anything?" No reply came. Jack had to put it down as more Macho posturing. "Come on, you're going home and going to bed."

"Can't I just go back to yours?"

"Yeah, no one would think twice about that. Might as well just announce it."

"I'm not sure I care anymore. "

Jack pulled Ianto to his feet. He was unsteady and kept hold of Jack.

"You don't care about your private life? You really are sick."


	5. Jack is keeping his trousers on

Dull ride home. Rain still falling, Red Dragon FM playing the same old shit. Asleep by the time the SUV pulls up.

Jack reached across and nudged him on the shoulder. No movement, slumped forward in the seat, held up by the seat belt. "Ianto."

Jack clicked the radio off and leaned right over. "Ianto!"

"Will you stop saying my name like I'm a bloody Labrador." Eyes flick open. They dart from side to side trying to place himself accurately.

"Don't tell me your folks named you after the dog."

"Nope. Dog got off lightly. No one ever spent ten minutes trying to pronounce its name."

Jack chuckled, before turning the conversation serious again. "You don't look so good. Maybe you should see a doctor."

Oh no. Not Ianto's favourite words for several reasons. The most of which being a man who travelled under that name. A man who whenever Ianto heard his name managed to turn life to shit. He'd read everything Torchwood had on him, and the fact that the doctor had taken Jack away for a year really made him hope their paths wouldn't cross again. What sort of man calls himself "The Doctor," anyway? Pretentious wanker.

"I'm alright."

Jack popped the door on his side of the SUV open and hopped out. Ianto tried to do the same and almost fell over. He leaned on the door of the SUV.

"You know, your feet go on the floor."

Strange that Ianto didn't take sarcasm as well as he gave it. He glared then took Jacks arm and let him pull him up the stairs to the front door. He stared at the bunch of keys in his hand until Jack took them off him and matched it to the lock on the door.

A small pile of post behind the door gave a little resistance as Jack pushed against it. The flat was as it had been. Pot plant needed water but all was well other than that. Dishes away. TV etc turned off at the plug. It was all a little stuffy from not being entered for a few days.

"Are going to manage without me?" Ianto asked as Jack shut the door behind them.

"I guess I'll have to," Said Jack leading Ianto towards the bedroom. "At least for a couple of days."

"A couple?"

"Well once you've had tomorrow off- which is non negotiable by the way- you'll probably want another day." Jack let him drop to the bed before kneeling down to pull Ianto's shoes off. "Take the time. I don't want you to make yourself really ill. What are we doing about trousers?"

"Leave them. You'll just get over excited if they come off."

Chuckle. "How well you know me." Jack pulled the duvet back and Ianto slipped underneath. Jack stood for a moment, hesitated then started to turn to leave.

Iantos hand shot out from under the duvet and grabbed Jack by the wrist. Jack turned back to him, gripped his hand. "I have to go."

Something in Ianto wanted to keep Jack there, he couldn't put it into words but kept his grip on Jacks wrist. Jack leaned over him. "I'll come by tomorrow for breakfast. Try and get some sleep." Jack kissed him on the forehead and Ianto closed his eyes.

He felt Jacks weight shift off the bed, the bedroom door close, then the front door opening and closing. Finally the locks clicked and keys posted back through the letter box.

Ianto shifted in bed. The keys would have to stay there until the morning. All day he'd been too hot, but now he'd finally made it back to bed there was no way he was moving. The warmth of the sheets dragged him down, made him feel heavy. He couldn't escape it. Besides, the only way anyone could get at the keys was if they had a hook. Yes of course all burglars went around with boat hooks. Jack was right, he was sick. Duvet stayed warm, Ianto could only find fault with the fact Jack wasn't tucked up in bed with him. Never mind, he'd probably sleep better without him. Heavy body, shallower breathing.

Dreams about Lisa again. Dreams she's naked on top of him. He feels the sweat on her back, his hands on her hips. She had such beautiful skin. Oh she was tight. She was... Oh Jesus.

Hard. His hand no longer fell on flesh. Perfect skin turned to metal.

"FUCK!"

Very awake. Dark outside now. Sweat soaked, bed sheets tangled and everywhere. Breathing hard. Reaches out and grabs his phone. Vision a little blurry but he can make out that its 02:08 am. Ianto flipped the phone open and called Jack. Hung up before it started to ring. Breathed deeply. He didn't want to call Jack. He'd either be pissed off or really worried. He didn't need to be either.

Everything was spinning, shadows twisted into shapes on the wall. But they were just shadows. He was too hot. Warmth tried to hold him as Ianto fought his way out from the tangle of bed sheets, trying to drag him back under like a mythical sea monster. He needed water, his hands were still shaking.

Put the light on as he stumbled out of the bedroom. It was bright, too bright, he had to shield his eyes. Went to the sink, grabbed a glass, drank. Water tasted like crap.

There was a knock at the door.

His shaking hand dropped the glass. It landed and smashed, shards landing inches from his toes. He bent down to pick up the pieces but was too dopey to be careful.

Knock on the door.

The glass bit into his flesh, but that didn't alarm him for long. He saw the blood run down the outline of his hand, but that was all he saw. It spidered out, but he couldn't see the flesh. His hand was invisible. He ripped the bandage off. His hand was gone from the wrist. But he could feel it. He could feel the fingers knocking against each other. What the fuck?

Why couldn't he see his hand? What had happened? Who the fuck was knocking on the door at two in the morning?

If he'd been thinking straight he never would have answered the door.


	6. Owen is Overqualified

Wednesday

Phone kept ringing. Jack waited, it went to the answer phone for the sixth time. He hung up and tried again, it was one in the afternoon.

To be fair to Jack, he had already been out and bought breakfast, he just hadn't managed to get out of the hub, the team kept grabbing him to report. Owen had taken an hour to explain that even after autopsies he still couldn't figure out what had killed the four people at the cemetery, other than the obvious blood loss. Gwen and Tosh had found nothing to connect them... and usually at this point Ianto leaned over and managed to state the complete obvious of what they were all missing. The annoying thing was that they probably had all the information, just that none of the team were able to step back and look at the wider picture, they were all too caught up in their specialities.

Of course, Jack had also spent forty minutes looking for his car keys. He was so used to having them put into his hand before he asked for them that he couldn't even begin to think where to look for them. Not having Ianto here was like having one hand tied behind his back. The phone kept ringing.

Owen dumped his sandwich wrapper on his desk, glancing over at the overflowing bin. In a move resembling an oversized game of chess, he manoeuvred one of his three coffee cups on top of the wrapper to hold it in place. He then, rather clumsily reached across his desk to retrieve his paper copy of the police incident report. Cold coffee scattered over his desk, narrowly missing the keyboard. "Shit!"

He picked up the paper and tried to shake the coffee from it, but only succeeded in causing it to run and made the report completely illegible. "Gwen, can I have another copy of the police report from the cemetery?"

"Do it yourself Owen, I'm not your bloody secretary." Gwen replied, looking up from her screen and noticing Jack had been on the phone for several minutes without getting through. She saw him glare over at Owen, then hold the phone away from his ear for a moment as it kept ringing.

"Owen. Clean up your own shit policy in action. Empty the bin."

Owen turned in his chair, not impressed that Jack saw the need to demote him. "You can't order me to empty the bin. I'm a doctor, I'm skilled."

Tosh got up from her desk and walked over to the kitchenette, taking Owens spent coffee cups with her.

"And I'm a Captain, do as I say."

Jack turned on his heel and climbed the stairs back into his office. Owen glared after him and muttered obscenities under his breath before getting up to begrudgingly do as he was told. Gwen smirked to herself, "Maybe you should have been nicer to Ianto."

"Maybe I should've let Jack take me up the arse as well."

"That's not nice Owen."

"Just an observation Gwen."

Gwen shook her head and went back to what she was doing, quite tempted to throw cold coffee all over Owen's desk . Owen grumbled at the bin bag and tied it, not impressed with whatever was sticky and now all over his hands.

Tosh passed him a fresh bin bag and a new copy of the police report.

Jack slumped into his chair as the answer phone switched on again. He waited for the beep.

"It's me, pick up."

Nothing. No dash to the phone. No click and hang up. Even that would have been better than nothing.

"I'm sorry, I'm running late. I should have called earlier."

Nothing. Even after an apology.

There was a considered pause from Jack, before he spoke again, failing to keep the harsh edge out of his voice. "I'm starting to get worried, so when you feel like calling, please do so."

Click. Jack hung up. He looked at the paper on his desk. None of it meant anything to him. He got up, paced around the office for a moment then stood at the top of the stairs. Gwen looked up to him. He shook his head, then dug his hands deep into his pockets.

Gwen got up and joined him, walking past Owen who seemed to be struggling with even opening the bin bag.

Jack sighed, Gwen could see the worry in his face. "He's probably just sleeping." She said, trying to be constructive.

"Yeah, probably." He didn't sound convinced. As much as Gwen didn't like to see Jack distressed for any reason, it was funny to think that Ianto had now had a hold over him. Surely, manipulation was the mark of all semi- serious relationships. "He could just be winding me up."

"Oh, Ianto wind you up. I can't imagine it." Gwen grinned and showed her imperfect teeth.

A smile came across Jacks lips, but didn't last. He shook his head, "I'm going over there."

"Are you sure you're not over- reacting?"

He turned back to her, "Maybe. If it's attention he wants, he's got it."

Jack descended the stairs and raised his voice to Owen. "Hurry up with that. You've got work to do."


	7. Ianto is off the radar

Owen was yet again unimpressed as the SUV pulled up against the kerb, the rain gullying down between the pavement and the tyres. For Owen this street was the epitome of south Wales, wet, deprived and just a bit too shabby to be homely. Of course Ianto lived here. The party of three climbed out of the SUV, Gwen waiting for a moment so that a passing car didn't spray her with fallen rain as she got out the passenger side. Instinctively, Owen flipped the collar on his jacket up, the idea of rain trickling down his neck not a happy one.

"I'll check around and see if his car's still here." Gwen informed above the hiss of wet tyres and calculated splash of displaced rain. Jack nodded in acknowledgement and she walked off around the corner, narrowly avoiding being drenched by a passing bus. Owen wondered if it was safe for Gwen to be wondering round in an area this rough. He hoped she'd bought her gun.

Jack strode the steps, past rusty iron railings to one of the ground floor flats. He rang the door bell, then impatiently bent down and flipped the letter box. He could see that the keys were gone from where he had dropped them the afternoon before, and that today's post was deposited untidily at the foot of the door. There were no signs of life.

As he gave a reluctant sigh, Owen leaned on the door and to his surprise it fell open. He and Jack looked at each other, silently noting that this was not normal. Jack pushed the door a few more inches, just enough to slip inside. The door keys were pushed against the wall, alongside the rest of the post. The door had been opened since yesterday, and left unlocked.

"Ianto!"

The clock in the living room ticked but nothing else, no other sound bar the whine of the fridge. Owen pushed the door wide open and followed Jack in. "Bloody hell, you need a window open in here."

The living room light was left on, granted the daylight outside wasn't brilliant, but it didn't look like anyone had been in there. After striding a few paces across the flat Jack pushed at the bedroom door, pausing for a moment as if to remind himself not to be too expectant.

He found the bedclothes tangled. Pillows on the floor. No Ianto.

"He's not here." Jack announced to the rest of the flat.

Something had woken Ianto up. Something he unlocked the door for.

Jack found his phone by the bed, saw his shoes were still on the floor. He picked the phone up and gripped it in his hand.

"His car's still there," Gwen announced, entering the open door of the flat to find Owen knelt on the floor in the kitchenette. "What is it Owen?"

"Blood. Not a lot, but it hasn't quite dried yet."

She reached down and picked up a piece of glass with blood on the edge of it. More fragments lay a few inches away, a pool of water with it. "So he dropped a glass, wasn't very careful and picked it up."

"Yeah," Owen considered before standing straight. He was a little freaked out. Moaning unqualified colleagues were one thing, them vanishing was something else entirely.

Still knelt on the floor, Gwen was considering. Even in the state she'd last seen him in she couldn't imagine Ianto leaving broken glass on the floor. He was too pedantic. If the flat had been a mess it wouldn't have stood out so much, but seeing it wasn't just a front he had at work made her think it was particularly relevant. "Why would you drop a glass Owen?" she asked.

He sighed, "I dunno. Cos I'm drunk, Cos I'm sick. Cos I'm half asleep."

"Because you're startled?"

He thought about it. "Are you sure you're not reading too much into this?"

Gwen thought about it again, she tried to stop thinking about everything as a police officer. It was just a glass. It wasn't like it could do a lot of damage. There wasn't a forced entry to the flat and there were no signs of a struggle. "Something doesn't add up."

Jack came out of the bedroom grim faced, clutching Ianto's mobile. "O.K. I'm worried. He's not here, doesn't have his keys or his mobile and his wallets back at the hub."

"Shit." Owen mumbled, losing the impact that word usually gave.

Taking the phone from Jacks' hand, Gwen tried to gauge what he was thinking, never an easy thing where Jack Harkness was concerned. "Are you saying something took him?"

He didn't meet her gaze and she started scrolling through Ianto's phone. "Last received was a picture message from you Jack." She glanced up to see Jacks eyes grow noticeably wide and his hand snatch out to retrieve the phone.

"That's private." He turned away from her, seemingly displeased. She thought that was odd for Jack. He was never shy, not that sort of shy anyway. He really was worried. Sometimes she let herself forget that despite Jacks indestructible status, he was vulnerable.

He thumbed through the recent calls section, "He tried to call me just past two this morning." Jack reached up to his Bluetooth and tapped it. "Tosh, I need you to review CCTV outside Iantos' address from two this morning to about eight o'clock."

There was consideration from Gwen, before she spoke, wondering what she missed. "Why eight?"

Having already figured it out, Owen thought he better say something. "Jack, no-one gets post first thing in the morning anymore."

"Damn."He shook his head, annoyed at slipping up. Ianto would have caught that. "Tosh, make that 11:30."

"That's a pretty big time frame Jack." Her voice came through the Bluetooth.

In the hub, she could hear his voice was grim. "Just get started."

He hung up, picked Ianto's laptop off the table, then scooped his keys up from behind the door. Owen and Gwen exited, out into the rain, Owen for one glad to be out of the stuffiness of the flat. Jack followed and doubly made sure the door was locked this time.


	8. Tosh is left out again

Toshiko looked over as the main door to the hub rolled open and Captain Jack, Gwen and Owen strolled through it in mid conversation. She'd hoped to see Ianto. No-one had bothered to be very clear to her about what was going on. All she knew was that she was looking at footage filmed outside Ianto's flat. She didn't receive greetings from anyone. They were too engrossed in what they were saying.

"-kept trying to tell me something yesterday." Jack said as he crossed to the coat stand and hung his drenched greatcoat up. "I thought he was just sick."

"Well, maybe he is," Owen contributed, at least looking over at Tosh long enough to flash a smile. She didn't need a greeting from Owen. A smile could sustain her all day. "Maybe he's caught something a bit nastier than we thought. Got a bit delirious and wandered off."

Gwen collapsed into the chair at her desk. For a hypothesis from Owen it was actually quite a good one. "Not impossible." She nodded her head.

"Happens all the time." Owen added, glad he had Gwen to back him up. Glad that she wasn't ready to fully panic yet.

"He doesn't have any ID on him-" She continued.

"So no-one knows who he is. Doesn't have anyone to call." Owen continued.

"So either the police have picked him up-"

"Or he's in hospital waiting for us to show up." Smiling a little, Owen reached his proud conclusion. The world loves a smug bastard.

Jack folded his arms across his chest before he spoke, not happy about having to question their astounding round robin of deduction. He just knew it wouldn't be that simple. "Or something else happened."

Rummaging in his desk draw, Owen looked over to Jack as he spoke. "Let's eliminate the highly probable before we really start panicking Jack." He pulled out the fake ID card he was looking for in anticipation of Jacks next order.

There was consideration from Jack as he looked between the two members of his team. They could see he wasn't convinced, but he was willing to go along with their intuition. "O.K, Gwen, go see the police. See if he's been brought in. Owen, go to St Helens and do the same." Finally, Jack turned back to Toshiko. She wondered if she should feel honoured anyone noticed she was here. "Tosh, anything yet?"

She turned back to the paused CCTV. "Sorry no. Nine and a half hours of footage from eight cameras, most of it recorded in the dark with bad quality. Software won't read it so I'm looking through it manually."

She noted Jack waited until the other two were out of earshot until he spoke to her again. "Keep going. If they don't find him I want to have as much of a head start as possible."


	9. Andy is a total patsy

Gwen always found it strange walking back into her previous place of work. She always did it with a hint of dread about her, hoping that everyone she used to work with wouldn't walk around the corner and start asking questions about her new job. Fortunately, she saw as she slipped in the door, Glynn who she had never been great friends with stood behind the front desk with a face like sour cream.

"Hi ya Glynn." She greeted as cheerfully as she could muster. Miserable old bastard just mumbled back at her. "Is Andy Davison in?"

Glynn started to mumble again. She didn't really have the time for this, but Glynn had that effect on people. She supposed she could just get Andy on his mobile. But somehow the gods of Police Constabulary smiled down on her as she heard her old partners voice call down the stairs to her.

"Hello Gwen, " he stooped as he climbed down the stairs towards her, then passed her almost impolitely. "What do you want?"

"What makes you think I want anything?" She smiled, getting the feeling Andy was not in a great mood.

"Well," He paused, dumping a pile of forms three inches thick on the front desk, and started signing them furiously, then handing them over to Glynn. "Well, you never come by for just a chat so-"

"O.K. I need your help."

His signature became less and less formed with every piece of paper. His patience seemed less the dryer the pen got as well. "Oh there's a surprise."

"I need to talk to you about a missing person."

He looked up at her incredulously. "Oh, now you want to talk to me about missing persons. I try to talk to you about this Bevan kid and you don't want to know-"

"Andy."

There came a sigh with a touch of furious about it. She was different since working for Torchwood. She seemed to care less about- well everything. "I'm busy Gwen. Bloody paperwork. Spend more time doing this then actual policing."

"It's one of my team."

He paused. His pen had run out anyway. "Which one of them?"

"Ianto."

He racked his brain. Trying to remember which one he was. "Oh right. Nice suit. Touchy feely with The Captain."

"Yeah." She replied shortly, not liking that Ianto only seemed to be identifiable by a suit and Jack.

"Got a picture?"

She handed it over. He looked better in the photo than when Andy had last seen him. He was well shaved and his suit was sharper than flying glass. Andy hadn't realised how young he was until he looked at the picture. "How long's he been missing."

Gwen sighed and slightly darted her eyes towards Glenn before she revealed her next sentence. "About fourteen hours."

Andy grasped her by the arm and pulled her out of Glenn's range of hearing, somehow already knowing he was going to have to bend the rules for her. "Gwen, you know we can't start looking until 24 hours. Unless you think he's in immediate danger."

She considered, then let Andy in on what information she had. "His front door was left open, he doesn't have his keys, wallet or mobile and his cars still parked outside his address."

Thinking about it for a moment, Andy managed to rather foolishly say what he was thinking again. "That's a bit weird. He didn't jump into the bay?"

"ANDY!"

He raised his hands to defend his statement, and his person if necessary. "Just thinking out loud."

She tried not to sound impatient, but she wanted to get this sorted. She wanted to know Ianto was safe and for Jack to not be back at the hub out of his mind with worry. "Can you check the cells?"

He smiled and nodded a little reluctantly. He'd do anything for her. Anything for that smile with gorgeous green eyes. What was she marrying Rhys for anyway?

"What about public sightings?"

"I'll check them. " He nodded again. She was asking for a lot. Of course, there was always one more thing. Typical bloody women.

"Could you put an alert out on him?"

His patience cracked. "We do have a city to police Gwen."

"Andy-"

Those eyes. She only did it to him because she knew she could get away with it. He was sure of it. "Alright. I'll see what I can do."

He crossed to behind the desk and got the cell keys and cards. "And you can help me check the cells. And you owe me a favour." He wished she wouldn't smile at him. She knew that smile made him very soft on her. "The things I do for you Gwen Cooper."


	10. Owen has admirable balls

Owen strolled up to the admissions desk at Saint Helens with a swagger like he was god almighty. He always found exuberating confidence really helped. It made people far more willing to volunteer information. Besides, Cat like self-assurance came with the job description.

The girl behind the desk was in her early twenties, her skin wasn't great and she had glasses. Give her a couple of years and he'd think about it, give her a chance to have her skin clear up, get some contact lenses. He could see over the desk she did have great legs. Well, everyone had to have a redeeming factor.

"Hello." She greeted him, her eyes darting off the computer, clicking the mouse off her game of Solitaire so she could give Owen more or less her full attention. She slouched forward, palms down on the desk.

"Hi," He said, trying as much as he could to speak with all the confidence of Jesus Christ. "I'm Doctor Owen Harper," He flashed the fake ID "Social services, One of my patients has gone missing. I was wondering if he'd been brought in. He's got some problems, if you get my drift."

"Patients name?" The girl asked, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose with her index finger.

"Jones, Ianto. I-A-N-T-O. Date of birth 19/08/83."

She typed a moment and looked through her records. "Sorry no."

"He might be a John Doe. Probably not with it."

The girl stopped and looked at him, considering if she could be bothered to help him. He hadn't taken the consultant attitude of "You there," which was nice, but he seemed to be quite full of himself. "Have you got a picture?"

Owen slid the photo across the desk. She picked it up with her highly polished nails and ogled it. "No Sorry, I'd remember him."

"Bollocks." Owen whispered. If he was wrong, and Gwen was wrong, that meant Jack was right. He really hoped Jack had been wrong. This made everything much more complicated.

"Although," The girl started again and Owen listened, desperate for a lead. "We've had three guys about his age brought in the last fortnight. All blue eyes, dark hair and cute, all with suspected meningitis."

"Really?"

She nodded, her earrings jangling as she did. "All covered in blood as well."

"Let me see." Owen reached forward to grab the computer monitor but the girls' talon like fingers scratched him as she possessively grabbed the screen.

"Sorry, Staff only."

With a sigh, Owen dismissed his hopes of being incognito on this trip and dug into the pocket of his jeans. His hand produced, this time a non fake ID. "Doctor Owen Harper. Torchwood. Files." He slammed his card onto the desk for effect.

She typed for a few moments then stood back, not sure entirely who Torchwood were, but that it sounded bloody important. Owen swivelled the screen around to face him. "Maybe I should get authoris-"

He cut her off before she could say another word. "Don't try and get in my way love. Not when I'm trying to save lives." He went back to scanning the screen, reaching over and scrolling down with the keyboard. "Says here the first two are dead."

She leaned around to see the screen and nodded. "Autopsies completed and bodies released."

That seemed to annoy him, but a moment later he detected something else that elicited a stronger response.

"Shit."

"What is it?" She asked, trying to peer around at what he had found.

He sighed and scratched his chin, "They all had bite marks." He let her take the screen back. That was bad, that was very, very...

The girl hesitated, still not convinced about helping this man. "The third ones in the ICU. Name's Thomas Evans."

A moment passed before Owen looked at her and smiled. He didn't thank her, but was surprised at the amount of help he got from a receptionist. He started to walk away and she called to him.

"Doctor Harper- you can't just-"

He cut her off again, turning around and throwing her a hasty but grateful smile. "Torchwood darlin'! It's fine!"

He turned and started walking towards the ICU at a quick pace before tapping his blue tooth surreptitiously. "Jack."

Jack's voice rang through, intense and curt. "Talk to me."

"He's not here. Found three male patients his age and description, all with suspected meningitis. Two fatalities."

"Meningitis?" Jack asked, not quite understanding the relevance.

"Suspected," Owen emphasised. "That means they couldn't confirm it. And they had bite marks."

There was a considered pause from Jack, before he gave a response worthy of Owen. "Shit."

"Yeah." Owen had predicted that response. "Is this what I think it is?"

He heard Jack sigh, "Could be."

Owen darted by hospital porters, who didn't quite have the courage to tell him he shouldn't be using his phone in the hospital. "Right. I'm gonna take a look at this patient then head back. Has Tosh had any luck?"

"No. Haven't heard from Gwen yet either."

Pushing at a set of double doors Owen entered the east wing of the hospital, still walking at a quick pace. "Alright, I'll see what I can get from this poor bastard."


	11. Jack smells trouble

Back in the hub the call ended. Toshiko looked over at Jack. She was almost afraid to ask. "Any news?"

Jack shook his head, "None of it good." He walked over to her, carrying a cup of coffee for her. Ianto's laptop hadn't yielded anything of value. Nothing weird on his facebook or email. He had a call from his sister, which eliminated the possibility he had ended up with family. Jack had just let the phone ring. Tosh noted Jack hadn't made a cup for himself. "You getting anything?"

"Getting no-where fast," she said, turning back to the paused footage on four screens at her desk. "Only thing of note is that camera four glitches."

"Glitches?"

She looked at Jack, he looked like he was clutching at straws. "What' d 'you mean glitches?"

"It's nothing, I went through it frame by frame. Just interference or something."

His gaze held her, he must've been desperate if he was thinking this was something. "Humour me."

She swivelled her chair back and found the time frame in the film. 2:14 am. She let him see the footage. He watched it intently, his eyes fixed to the screen. He saw something she didn't. "Go back."

She wound it back and let it roll again. This time she looked for it, but still didn't see anything of relevance.

"Stop."

Jack leaned forward, traced the image on the screen with his finger. He reached onto her desk, picked up a dry wipe pen and marked the screen of what looked like interference. "What does that look like to you?"

She took her glasses off, rubbed her eyes and put them back on again. It was... "That's a person."

Jack nodded and stood back, "Toshiko, you said glitches."

She nodded and rolled the footage on twelve minutes. She paused it and Jack studied the image. "Two figures this time." Jack swallowed, an audible gulp. "One much taller than the other."

"How did you-?"

He cut her off as he crossed the room to Iantos' jacket. "I had to know what I was looking for." She saw Jack dip his hand into the pocket and retrieve Iantos' wallet. Grasping at straws. He went over the table and started emptying the contents onto it. Three ten pound notes. Some small change. A credit card. Couple of Debit cards. Driving licence. National insurance card. Receipt for milk. A film ticket for last week. Jack prised his fingers into the clear film window section. He pulled out a train ticket to London from eighteen months ago. Along with it came a picture of Ianto and who Toshiko could only assume was Lisa.

Jack paused for a moment. Carefully put the picture of Ianto and Lisa to one side. Tosh wondered why Ianto still had a picture of Lisa in his wallet, especially as it had been covered up. Maybe he wasn't able to look at it every day. Maybe he just wasn't ready to not have it to hand.

"How did it know where to find him?" She asked Jack, still rifling through Ianto's wallet like an urban fox scrabbling at dustbins.

Jack shook his head, unclear of anything. "It got him the first time in the cemetery." Then he paused, and looked at what he'd just pulled out of Ianto's wallet. It was a ticket stub from the Aurora club. "No it wasn't."

He grabbed Toshiko on the arm, she gasped slightly at the sudden action and he loosened his grip, realising what he was doing. "At the aurora club, was Ianto on his own for any length of time?"

Tried to think back to it. She'd been drinking. It wasn't very clear. "I don't-"

"Please-," He sounded strange. Verging on desperate. "It's important."

She racked her brain, "He went to the bathroom. That girl... she followed him outside."

Jacks voice was quieter, but the intensity of it didn't waiver. "I need the CCTV of the aurora club." She made her way back over to her desk and brought it up as quickly as possible." Tuesday morning." He checked Ianto's phone to see when he'd called him from the taxi. "About 1:15."

Jack stood there and watched footage scroll past. Toshiko jabbed at the mouse on seeing Ianto walk into view of the camera. Shimmering out of nowhere a girl pushed him against the wall. She kissed him. He didn't want it, Jack could see that. She pulled away from him and sniffed the air, then walked away. Ianto staggered off. Seemingly drunk.

"Take it back."

She sniffed the air, then walked away.

No.

It wasn't the air.

A look of terrible realisation dawned on Jacks face. He went over to the coat stand and pulled on his greatcoat before turning to Tosh and giving instructions:

"Toshiko. If Ianto shows up here, you get him with the stun gun. Keep him under until Owen gets back."

"Jack," She had a lot of questions, but she knew full well none of them would get answered. He was already heading out the door. "Where are you going? Jack!"


	12. Thomas Evans is not all there

Thomas Evans was a breathing corpse. His body just hadn't had the common sense to stop. Granted, the tube shoved down his throat forcing air into his lungs was just prolonging the process. Owen lifted the bandage from his neck and tried to examine the wound, but it kept weeping blood. His notes didn't mention a clotting disorder, but that wound had been recorded when he was brought in three days ago.

Owen drew blood from his arm, carefully making sure he put a pressure dressing over the small hole the needle had made. He didn't disturb the arm that was tucked away under the blanket. It would be a lie to say Owen didn't feel bad about taking bloods off a person he knew he couldn't save. What a shit way to die, then again, Owen couldn't think of any good ways to die. This is why he preferred being a pathologist, in that role there was nothing he could do to fail his patient.

"Sorry mate- I don't think there's a damn thing I can do for you." He was considering the possibility of getting away with a spinal tap, and the logistics in flipping him over when the bay curtain drew back.

A girl stood there, mousey, petite and mascara everywhere. "Who are you?" She asked thickly through sinuses over loaded from crying.

Being caught a little off guard, Owen found himself stammering, " I'm, I'm, I'm a doctor." Stop it. He didn't stammer anymore. He stopped at med school. He was sick of sounding ridiculous when he tried to give a prognosis. It always made him sound unsure of what he was saying.

"Come to take a look have you? They've all been in- med students wondering what it is." She blew her nose hard, Owen hearing the resentment of failed diagnoses in her voice.

"Have they told you?"

The girl scowled, regardless of how upset she was she wasn't going to let anyone forget what was really important. "I thought it was Thomas, not just a curio."

Bitter. Yes, of course she would be. Owen mentally slapped himself around the back of the head for being that insensitive. That helped no-one, let alone this poor girl who was going to be single very shortly. "They said it was a new strain of Meningitis. That two other boys have died from it."

Reached out to touch her arm. Don't ever forget they're people. Don't ever forget everyone around them needs help as much as they do. It'd probably been days since this poor girl had been touched by another person.

"Well, I'm a bit of a specialist and I can tell you it's not Meningitis."

There was suddenly light in her eyes. Oh no. "Can you help him? There was a long silence. Never give false hope. That was what they taught Owen in med school. No matter how shit it makes you feel, it's always better to be honest.

Shook his head. "I'm sorry."

She cried, fat tears spreading mascara down her face. She didn't wail like the world was ending. She'd already known, she knew now she was just waiting. Crying while she waited for the end. Fair enough. Waiting around was always the worst part.

Owen reached over the bed and passed her a tissue. "What's your name?"

"Beth." She sniffled, trying to maintain some degree of dignity.

"O.K Beth. I can't help him, but I've got a friend who might have the same thing wrong with him. That's why I'm here. Now, has Thomas been anywhere unusual, met with anyone strange?"

She cried again, that didn't help. Owen reached out and touched her on the shoulder. "Beth, I really need to know."

She choked her next words out, Owen wasn't quite sure he heard her correctly. "I told him that place was a dive."

"Where?"

"Aurora."

Cogs turn, horrible realisation. That girl at the club. Owen had been stood next to her for a while, but it was Ianto she'd gone for. "The Aurora club?"

"Guys have been getting rohipnoled there for months now. That's the rumour on campus, that's why all the students stopped going there."

Owen saw Beth reach out and fumble under the blanket for Thomas' other hand. When she pulled it into her own, he couldn't help but notice it was covered in a white cotton glove. They might do that for a burn victim, or the start of necrosis or gangrene. But none of that was on the chart. "Beth, what happened to his hand?"

"I dunno. You're the doctor."

Owen reached forward and took Thomas' hand out of Beth's. He peeled the glove back. His brain took a moment to calculate what he saw, or rather what he didn't see.

"Definitely not Meningitis."


	13. Rhys will be eating alone tonight

It was dark by the time Gwen got out of the station. She and Andy had been through the cells, spent two hours looking through calls logged. Nothing . Nada. Zip. She hadn't called Jack yet, she was making sure she didn't miss anything.

He wasn't there. He wasn't in any of the smaller stations around the city. Andy kept telling her to be positive, that it could still be a couple of days before he showed up. She'd never been on the other side of the desk like this before, Gwen felt bloody helpless.

Her phone had rung before she managed to call Jack. If there had been any news Jack would have called her. Rhys wanted to know if she'd be home tonight.

"No Rhys. No , love I'm sorry but I really don't know." She clicked her key fob and opened the car up. The rain was falling again, she shivered as it grazed against her cheeks. Reached for the door handle and wrenched it open. She should get the garage to look at the door, it kept sticking.

"Bloody thing. No no, not the phone love, the door. Yeah drivers side, it's not great." Gwen pulled herself into the car, twisted the keys in the ignition. She didn't start the engine but turned the heater on before she slammed the door.

Rhys asked about Ianto, she told him the truth. She was so sick of lying to him, and she really just wanted to talk about it. "No, I'm bloody worried." She rubbed her eyes, she was tired and out of ideas. "Jack must be going out of his head."

There was a pause as Rhys tried to say something reassuring. It didn't really have an effect. "Yeah. Yeah I'll let you know. Love you."

She ended the call to Rhys, then flicked through her phone book to Jack. The phone went back to her ear. He picked up right away, but Gwen spoke first. "Hi Jack. Sorry, nothing at the station but Andy's keeping an eye out for us." She paused, Jack only sighed, but she listened to the noises in the background. "Where are you? You're not in the hub."


	14. Jack doesn't always know best

Dusk had swept in and Jack could no longer see the SUV parked a few streets away. Cold rain settled in his hair and caused the gel in it to lose all cohesiveness. Jacks toes were damp, and he drew his coat around him. The rain crackled in his other ear as Gwen spoke to him.

"I'm at Cathays cemetery." He told her, knowing he'd have to tell someone before the team started searching for him as well.

"Why have you gone back there?" She asked.

Jack lifted the torch in his hand and shone it into the rain. It turned each drop into light before they exploded into darkness when they hit the ground. "Owen has a lead. If Owens right, of the three places I'm likely to find Ianto, this is the only one he can get to. His place is locked up, the aurora club won't let him in. Also, we found bodies here. That means what took him resides close by. The bodies were dumped here after death, that's why there was no blood on the floor."

"Do you know what took him Jack?"

He didn't reply.

"Jack?"

He paused, he didn't need back up. They were likely to be more of a liability than any help to him. "Toshiko's in the hub by herself. Go back there and wait for me, see if Owen's gotten any further." The call ended before Gwen could tell him to be careful.

The beam of light from the torch hit the raindrops, the puddles, the slick stones of memorials and gravestones. The ground was saturated. He stepped off the path onto the grass between plots, his feet sunk into the ground slightly, it was verging on boggy. Waiting. Waiting with knowledge. Waiting with intent.

Behind Jack something moved, he turned but wasn't in time to witness anything. He heard its footsteps behind him. It didn't reveal itself. They were watching him. Stalking him as much as he did them. He'd known they wouldn't be able to resist.

Again something moved, this time in front. He raised the torch and saw something classified as less than a blur. Under any other circumstances he'd have ignored it as a trick of the light. But these creatures specialised in light tricks, that's how they went un-noticed. That's how they'd lived under his nose in his city.

Another noise behind him, Jack spun on his heel, Torch pointed with intent.

Arms shield from the light. It's too bright. Too bright. Cold, wet. Can't feel his toes. How did he get here? Arms go down as Jack points the torch away. There was blood on his neck, his shirt. He didn't have any shoes and he was soaked to the bone. He was still a beautiful sight to Jack who half smiled as he breathed his name like a sigh of relief. "Ianto."

Stepped towards him, he really didn't look good. The blood flowing from his neck was steady but not serious. His arm was bleeding as well. As Jack reached him his legs buckled and Jack grabbed him. They both landed arse first in the mud.

No eye contact. Had to break the hold. Jack touched his face and rolled his head to face him. "Look at me. Ianto."

It takes a moment. The fall had jolted Ianto, but it took a familiar voice and arms to bring him out of it. He looked at Jack, meaning just beyond his comprehension again. Then it all seemed to fall into place. "Hello?" He greeted in a very small and unsure voice.

The billion dollar smile made an appearance for the first time since yesterday morning. "Hey." There was a near laugh of light relief with it.

Ianto glanced around, trying to place himself again. As he turned his head Jack got a better look at the puncture mark on his neck. "Where are we?"

Digging his hand into his coat, Jack produced his clean handkerchief and held it to Ianto's neck. "Cathays cemetery."

"Right. What are we doing here?"

Fingers reach up to stroke Iantos' cheek. Jack's thumb keeps his neck covered. "Your memory's blanked again. That's a very common side effect. Just your minds way of protecting you."

"From what?"

No reply from Jack, he blanked the question. Ianto saw his eyes shift as he considered it though. The conversation moved along. "They came for you at home. Do you remember?"

Recall was difficult, but that memory wasn't too fuzzy. "I tried to call you. Changed my mind. Didn't want to get you worried."

There was a half smile and Jack shook his head. Of all the reasons not to call. "I wish you had."

"Someone was knocking on the door." He didn't remember anything after that. It wasn't blank, it was just a drunken blur until a few moments ago. "Why am I yer?"

"They must have a nest close by. Most victims are too weak to walk, that'd be how you got out. They wouldn't be watching you. Also they would've had to carry those bodies here." That all sounded very clinical, and very vague an explanation.

"What are they Jack?"

He was going to have to tell him at some point, he wouldn't be able to count on his co-operation if he didn't. Jack hesitated as the words stung his mouth.

"Hemovores. Vampires."

Ianto raised his hand to his own throat and pulled Jacks hand from his neck. He could see the handkerchief was blood soaked. Oh God. He wanted to throw up, pass out. Lie in the mud. "They fed off me." Dizzy. Shaking.

Arms pull him against Jack. He doesn't cry. Buries his head in Jacks shoulder. Arms solid around him. "I've got you. They won't get to you again." Kissed him on the temple. Ianto was so cold, hardly a wonder given his state of dress.

He raised his hand and gripped at Jacks coat, desperate for the warmth of him. Suddenly Jack grabbed at his wrist and held it away so he could see it. Ianto drew back and saw his hand had vanished again.

The look on Jacks face had changed from pure affection to surprise and fear. His voice had quietened. "Has this happened before?"

Nods his head, Jack reached out and touches his face again. "Just after I called you this mornin'."

"That's over twelve hours-." Jack stood suddenly and hauled Ianto to his feet. Suddenly everything was urgent. "I need to get you back to the hub, NOW."

"What is it? What's happening to me?"

No time for vague explanations, he needed Ianto on his side and willing to co-operate, no time for pretence. No time to sugar coat it.

"Hemovores spread themselves through the blood stream and mutate host species. You're taking on their camouflage ability, which means your cells are already mutating. This process kills most victims, and symptoms present as Meningitis. You don't have a fever and rash, so I'm saying you're near end stage."

"What does that mean?" It was a conclusion Ianto had arrived at before he asked, Jack didn't need to reply.

"I need you to trust me."

No. He'd not lived through canary wharf to have this happen. He'd not outlived all his friends in London, not survived losing Lisa to end up the same way. "I'm going to turn into one of them?"

"No." That word was firm, but Ianto couldn't stretch to believe him. "I won't let that happen. We need more time."

More time? What did he mean by that? He knew Jack well enough to guess, things were about to get a lot colder. "I'm not going into Cryo Jack."

"You got any other ideas?"

He did, and Jack wasn't going to like it. "Let me go."

Shakes his head, grips Ianto by the shoulders. "No way. I won't lose you like this."

"I'd rather be dead than in cryo."

Pulls him tighter against him, there's a near angry edge to his voice. "Don't say that. Don't ever say that"

Ianto tried to pull away from Jack, Jack just gripped him harder, their foreheads fell together and Jacks' hands ran through his hair. Their eyes closed.

"You run and I'll come for you."

"You'll let me run. If you had any sense you'd shoot me now. But you won't. You'd rather cut off your own hand than be the one to pull the trigger."

Jack kissed him, then his arms pulled around him. They hold him like they won't ever again. One arm dropped as Jack whispered into Iantos' ear. "You know I can't let you go. They're all around us. They'll just take you again. I'm so sorry."

Chloroform. Hand clamped over his mouth , screaming into the handkerchief. No, no ,no. Not going into Cryo. Not going like this. Screaming, not going down without a fight. Getting tired. Jacks arms like steel cables. Can't throw him off. Reaches into Jacks coat. Jack gambles he won't find what he's looking for, that he'll pass out before then. Stupid gamble. Ianto clamps his jaw onto Jacks palm. Jack cries out but doesn't loosen his grip.

His hand finds Jacks stun gun. Rips it from the holster. Jabs him in the side with it. Jack screamed, and the last thing he saw before he passed out was Ianto's reappeared hand withdrawing from his coat, holding a weapon he let him name.

Black.


	15. Ianto is a lost cause

"Level four dangerous extra terrestrial Tosh. I am not at liberty to discuss without full authorisation."

Gwen looked annoyed at Owen who was staring down a microscope at a blood sample. "Since when have you been bothered about following orders?"

"Since Jack'll have my bollocks in a sling." He didn't look up. He was actually fully concentrating on this. It must be serious.

She turned back to Tosh, who was staring at Owen, trying to gauge what was going on. Both women were not impressed at being left in the dark over this. "So level four-" Gwen started, "That's quite bad."

"Very," Toshiko added sitting on the steps of the autopsy room. Why was Owen holding out on her? He'd never held out on her like this before. "Jack was very strange before he left. He was... frantic."

That was bad, Gwen couldn't quite picture it. "Frantic? Jack Harkness?"

"I know," Tosh retorted. "He told me if Ianto turned up I had to stun him. What kind of sense does that make?"

"As he seemed to think he'd find Ianto himself not a lot. Although he said that hinged on Owen being right."

Finally, feeling annoyed at the level of distraction his colleagues were creating, Owen looked up."Could you two give the speculation a rest? Do something useful like make some tea."

"Owen, I don't like being left in the dark. I don't like that things could happen within this team that I'm not privy to, because we need to be honest to each other to be able to function."

He almost smiled, she could be such a manipulative bitch. "Sorry Gwen. No dice."

The main door rolled back.

"At last." Owen sighed. They all clambered out to the main Hub and were disheartened to find only Jack. He was soaked to the skin and alone. Toshiko and Gwen talked at once.

"Jack what the hell's going on?"

"Where's Ianto?"

Jack looked to Owen.

"Was it?" Was all Owen could put together for a suitable question. Jack nodded. "Fucking Hell," Owen sighed. He prayed he'd been wrong. He'd hoped to god it was something else. "Did he vanish before you could get him?"

Nodding his head, Jack turned back to Tosh, He didn't make eye contact. "Toshiko. I want you to look at the CCTV around Cathays cemetery. Find me more glitches, find out where they go. They aren't based at the cemetery itself but can't be far away."

He mounted the stairs without looking at Gwen. She was about to call to him, but Toshiko spoke first. "What am I looking for, really?"

Jack turned, his face beyond grim, beyond sad. His eyes met hers. "Hemovores."

She silently gasped, and felt Owens hand on her shoulder.

Turning away, Jack spoke again, hardly more than a whisper. "Let me know when you've got something."

This conversation hadn't enlightened Gwen at all, "Jack?" She called to him but he didn't turn. He kept at the stairs at a slow, automatic pace. She turned to Owen. "What's a Hemovore?"

Squeezing at Toshiko's shoulder, Owen spoke very quietly, his stammer coming back to haunt him for the second time today. "It's, It's, It's a vampire." He swallowed. "They've got Ianto."

"Then we need to go and get him."

Tosh took her glasses off and rubbed her face. This was her fault. It was her idea to go to that club. Jack was going to hate her. She wanted to cry into Owens' shoulder but he moved over to Gwen.

"It's over Gwen," he said softly, " We've lost him."

Gwen shook her head. Tosh fell into her chair. Owen didn't move. Silence. Stunned. The moment drags.

Broken. They all jumped at the accompanying roar as Jack threw the desk across his office.


	16. Tosh needs German lessons

Thursday.

One hour later. It seemed much more than that. Owen made coffee. It seemed like the thing to do, assuming this was going to turn into a wake. Numb sadness, Jack stayed in his office, quiet now for a long while. Gwen could see from the sofa that his office was trashed.

Turning back to the coffee in her hands she finally looked up at Owen, taking the cup from him. He forced a weak smile, as if unsure of what else to do on making eye contact with her. There was nothing to say, except perhaps from Owens perspective.

"Bloody hell." He murmered, positioning himself on the sofa next to Tosh who held her drink against her, more interested in drawing warmth from the mug than drinking the actual beverage. "Someone should go and talk to him." Owen finally said, looking beyond Tosh.

"I suppose that'd be me," Gwen mumbled into the cup, causing the liquid to ripple. She put the cup down.

Tilting his head, Owen felt Toshiko inch closer, he'd seen her hugging the cup rather than drinking from it. It was a little nippy. He stretched his arm along the back of the sofa. "You're trained to deal with this Gwen. All I can do is tell you what killed them."

"Right, so you get the blood, I get the shit." She leaned forward, placing her feet on the floor. "Ok, I will." She relented, "In a minute."

A sound came from next to Owen, it took a moment for him to process that Tosh was talking. "I can't imagine how he must be feeling. I didn't even know they were-"

A snort that even the bleakest of situations couldn't prevent emiited from Owen. He half laughed. "Playing German battleships? Bloody hell Tosh, did they have to announce it?"

Fury built in Gwen's head, but she knew it would be radically counter productive to tell Owen he was an insensitive knob. The change in Tosh's face was enough to drive Gwen upstairs with rage

As she thundered away Owens phone rang. He stood to extract it from his pocket and opened it. "Hello?"

Watching, it was now Toshiko's chance to see Owens face fall. "Yeah it is." He replied to the other participant. "Yeah? When? Ok, thanks for calling. "

He lowered himself back down to the sofa, she inched back close to him. "What is it?"

Exhaled, breathed into his hands. "Thomas Evans- kid at the hospital died."

A moment ago she might have wanted this to bring Owen down, but all Toshiko wanted to do now was... well... be with Owen. In case he needed her. Hesitantly she put her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her in suprise for a moment, before forcing another weak smile. "Guess he's luckier than some." Owen leaned back and rested his head on the sofa. He looked upwards and exhaled.

"Owen?"

"Yeah Tosh?"

She didn't want to sound stupid but, she got the idea that if she didn't ask she'd never know. "German battleships?"

He lifted his head, looked at her and couldn't help but smile.


	17. Gwen hates her job sometimes

Inching the door open, Gwen stepped into Jack's office. She strided over up turned chairs, piles of paper and smashed glass. Jack sat with his back to the wall, whiskey decanter clutched in his hand. He looked like he'd aged in the last hour. Not in the lines on his face, but the look in his eyes. The way he seemed to have seen far more than any man should have to. The eyes had wept but the face was dry. There were no more tears.

Gwen knelt next to him, placed her hand on his arm before shuffling down beside him. He looked at her and thrust forward the whisky. Politely she shook her head. Jack shrugged as if to say "Suit yourself" and swigged liberally at the neck of the bottle. Then rested the bottle on the floor in front of him.

Her hands grip his arm, pulling him towards her. He doesn't resist and his head falls on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." She finally said.

"I really let him down." Jack murmered, his hand reaching up to touch Gwens hair.

She shook her head, gripped Jack harder, touched the back of his neck. "It wasn't your fault."

He raised his head and reached for the whiskey. Gwen wondered if there was enough whiskey in the world for what he was feeling. Jack hesitated before he sipped. "I sent him out, I took him home, I let him go. I'm even the reason they chose him. 51st Century Pheramones. He's got the stench of me all over him." Finally he swigged at the bottle again, as if to numb the words.

Gwens hand tightened at his arm. She hated Jack being self deprecating. "You've met them before?"

"In the forties. The British government captured one. They thought they could use their camouflage ability in the war effort. All but one of the male test subjects died. One day he attacked one of the female scientists- and it spread."

"They used them as weapons?"

Jack nodded, then drank again. Now that he was talking the bottle seemed to be emptying quicker. "Torchwood sent me to contain the situation. The females are- nasty. They feed, and they breed. And they don't stop. And I smell like an all you can screw buffet to them."

More whiskey. Jack throws it down his throat. Gwen still needs to know, as much as she doesn't want to ask. "What'll happen to Ianto?"

Jack drinks again, gulps it down thirstily before replying. "They need a male. The virus kills most men, that's why the three victims Owen found at the hospital. It mutates, turns him into one of them. Then he drinks, and he feeds, and he kills." Jack drank again, Gwen seeing him change, his voice growing quieter, intensity surging. "Hemovores laid waste to entire planets. Their only instinct is to feed, assimilate and reproduce. Everything they touch becomes diseased. They're a walking plague... and I as good as handed him to them."


	18. Ianto is up to his neck in it

Monday morning. On the other side of the M4 an alarm clock sounded for several moments before an outstretched and half asleep arm jabbed the correct button. Retaliating against a rude awakening, Ianto knocked the clock to the floor.

"Well that was mature," Lisa mumbled into his shoulder, herself not quite ready to move yet.

Yawning, Ianto asked his usual first thing in the morning question. "Can we call in sick?"

Her cheek brushed against his shoulder as she shook her head. "No." Lisa replied firmly. "You basement boys might get away with skiving, but I'm needed." Opening his eyes again he sees Lisa nestle into his neck and shoulder. Ianto stroked her hair as her arm reached across him, before she suddenly propped herself up on her elbow, looking somewhat bemused.

"What?" He asked seeing her chuckle. Her lack of reply prompted the same question. "What?"

Lisa chuckled at the prospect he hadn't even noticed. "Your morning glory dear."

Redness crept into his cheeks. "Sorry."

"It's half six, where do you get the energy?"

He grinned inanely as she tried to climb over him. Her efforts were hindered as Ianto grabbed her and pulled her back down on top of him. Lisa ran her hand over his chest as she straddled him, feeling him get harder against her. She shook her head. "We don't have time for this."

"Well, then I have nothing to get up for."

She sighed, hating that he was insistent on her coaxing him out of bed like a misbehaving child. "Get up Ianto."

"No."

It all seemed to change, Lisa seemed to change. Her voice became different. Firm and determined. Ianto gripped at her like she was slipping away from him. "Sweetheart, you have to get up."

He was cold, aching. There was something very wrong. He knew he shouldn't be in London. He knew he couldn't be.

He was slumped against the wall of the corridor. His legs were weak, didn't want to stand. Shaking. People were screaming, not just people. There were cries of "Delete" up against shouts of "Exterminate!" Caught in the crossfire. Crawled away.

Hauls himself to his feet. Starts running. Remembers why he's here. Lisa called him ten minutes ago. She said they were taking people. Then she started screaming and the line went dead. She'd shouted out floor fifteen. Ran up the stairs, flight after flight. Only meets one other person, runs past a man in a brown striped suit. Floor fifteen. Plastic sheeting. Pulls it back.

Almost slips in blood. The smell. Discarded bodies piled high. Skulls torn open and brains removed. There's so much blood. Dead eyes stare up at him. Oh god he knows all of them. He doesn't see Lisa.

Picks his way through, leaving skid marks in crimson. Further on, blood trails from his shoes. Suddenly the bodies stop. They aren't whole anymore. They become organs, limbs, can hardly walk on the floor for them. Hearts, lungs, like the floor of a butchers shop. Arms, legs, skulls, jaws, eyes, kidney, spleen, liver, uterus.

He can hear Lisa screaming. It seemed only fair to join in.

Screaming was good. Screaming was fine. Screaming meant that he was still alive, no matter how undignified Iantos way of expressing this fact. The haemavore moved back, surprised at her victims state of consciousness. Wide eyes fixed on her. Horror at seeing his own blood drip down her chin. But the smell. Like bad meat and bad fish. Ianto had been in his profession long enough to know the stench of rotting flesh. It permeated the whole building, even the rotting wood of the floor boards underneath him reeked of death.

It leaned back down to his level, its tongue ran up his neck, reaching previously dried blood behind his ear. Another wave of intoxication hit him. No. No way. Not going to sleep. Got to fight the darkness. Ianto forced his eyes open. For once it wasn't too bright for him. The only light came from the shafts of street lights leaning in through the bay window. Bay window. Old house. Had to pay attention and figure out where he was. Iantos eyes darted round the room, clinging to anything that could identify his whereabouts. Above him, once grandly stated coving crumbled to nothing, the ceiling above him fell to holes where he could see into the attic. Okay, that put him on the first floor. Fireplace stood, still open. Straining, he turned his head to see that this floor was one room, all the walls had been knocked through. A timber beam bolstered the middle of the floor, probably where a load baring wall had been. Haemovores clearly didn't understand the basics of interior design. Further along, a dilapidated staircase that had previously been elaborate before time and a lack of care got to it. Victorian terrace. Carthays was full of Victorian terrace. He could still be close to the cemetery.

She loomed into view. She wasn't beautiful anymore, he could see her for what she was. Her tongue stroked up his neck, burrowed into the broken skin, suckling blood. Teasing it out, it flowed stronger on contact with her saliva. She made his skin crawl, she was wrong. She lifted his wrist and lapped at it, blood dripped down his arm. He wanted to grab her, to throw her off. Just to get her away from him. His arms wouldn't respond. Only Iantos' mind still seemed to belong to him, and that was fading. No. It must be some sort of chemical paralysis. She must give off something that weakens muscle tone. Her teeth sunk into his wrist. Couldn't think. Couldn't fight back. Soon he'd be just like her. His stomach rolled like an obedient dog.

Whatever she gave off, it wasn't to kill, it was to make him go quietly. Like chloroform. Jack would know. Or at least pretend he knew. Where the hell was he? Why wasn't Jack here? Why hadn't he just gone with Jack? Lain back in his arms and let go. That would have been better, anything would have been better than this.

Tears. As they fall they mix with his blood and she laps it up. He has one hope. Jack won't abandon him to this. No matter what the outcome he'll see Jack one more time. "If you run I'll come for you." The words run round his head. Feeling faint. Jack was coming for him. Had to stay alive. Had to stay Ianto Jones. Had to stay human just to see Jack again. "If you run I'll come for you." Piss poor words to cling to. They have no hope, vision fades. He has to believe. Jack was coming for him.

"Sweetheart, you have to get up."


	19. Jack is full of surprises

Under the debris of what had previously been Jacks office a phone rang. Gwen moved from her place next to Jack, stood, listened and moved aside a stack of fallen papers. Jack stayed motionless, holding his position against the wall. Ianto's phone was ringing.

"Leave it." Jack mumbled clinging to his mostly empty decanter.

Snatching the phone up, Gwen held it long enough to see the caller ID as "Rhiannon" before the connection dropped out and a message of seven missed calls flashed up. "She's just going to keep calling Jack."

He shook his head. Jacks face altered before he forced composure back on himself. "What the hell do I tell her? How do you tell someone you lost their brother?" Roughly, Jack pulled his gun from its holster, opened the chamber and clumsily slid a bullet from it, through his fingers and to the floor. He tried to prise the bullet from the floor, but he couldn't grip it. Well, the whiskey had given its desired effect.

"I could talk to her," Gwen suggested, standing over Jack, quite tempted to put her hand out and ask for his gun given Jacks current state.

Reaching for the rollaway stray bullet, Jack clumsily knocked over the decanter. Its remaining contents spilled onto the floor. Jack paused and sat back. "No, it has to be me," He near croaked. "Like it has to be me to put the bullet in the back of his head." 

"Jack..." Gwen started but found it hard to finish out of the shock of the previous statement. "You can't just shoot him."

With a massive effort, Jack used the wall to haul himself to his feet. He was unsteady, and his breath stank of Whiskey. He clicked the chamber on the gun, writing the missing bullet off as a lost cause. "He as much as asked me to. It's not like I can ask any of you to do it."

There came a moment of silence, before Gwen reached the finale of her contemplation. "Give me the gun Jack."

"No."

She steeled herself, trying to put up a taking-no-shit front. "What if it were me? Would you shoot me Jack?"

Holding the gun in his left hand, Jack moved his right up and cradled Gwen's cheek. The whiskey taint in his breath didn't make the gesture any less sincere. "I would, because you'd want me to."

"Jack-"

Words cut her off, his mood sharpening. "They can't have him. He's better dead in my arms than feeding in theirs."

Possessive. Some days Gwen had thought Jack as being little more than aloof regarding Ianto. Strange. Save the soul if nothing else. Jack was drunk. His eyes teared. "They can't have him Gwen." The tears blinked away. Swallowed the sorrow down. "He fought back. No-one fights back."

Lifting his hand from her cheek, Gwen gave it a comforting squeeze that caused Jack to flinch in pain. She pulled the hand in front of her to see it clearly. Teeth marks, the skin was broken.

"Oh my god Jack, did he bite you?"

He nodded, but didn't seem concerned for himself. "Fifty-first century immune system. Being immortal probably covers me for this but, even if I wasn't, all the virus could do to me is give me a fever and turn me a touch invisible."

Jack started to think about what he'd said, but Gwen had already resumed talking. "Good thing you didn't tell them about that in the forties, or they'd've locked you up in a lab as well."

He didn't seem to hear her. He was away thinking. Earlier he'd been too wrapped up in assuming the worst. Ianto shouldn't have been able to walk. He was alert, aware once the trance was broken. He'd had a fever before that... Jack dug into his coat and pulled out a bloodstained handkerchief.

The door to the office flew open, causing Toshiko to look up from reviewing her surveillance footage. She'd finally got back to work about twenty five minutes ago. Owen had sat behind her, trying to keep her company but had quickly got bored. It was nice that he'd tried.

Jack was down the stairs by the time she looked over, moving across the hub as quickly as his stumbling feet would allow. Gwen stood at the top of the stairs, still stunned by Jacks sudden ability to move. Cautiously she followed, looking to Tosh who shared her bewilderment.

"Owen!" Jack hollered, raising Owens attention as he entered the autopsy room. Jack held out a bloodstained handkerchief to him. "I want you to look at this blood sample."

"Who's is it?" Tosh asked from the doorway, as Gwen appeared behind her.

"Ianto's."

Owen shook his head, not seeing what the commotion was for. "Jack, I've seen Haemovore infected blood before."

Jack's tone was short, lacking in patience. "Just- look at it."

Snapping on a pair of gloves, Owen took the blood soaked rag from Jack, still sceptical as to if he had lost his mind or indeed had a revelation. Owen found an un-dried patch and slid it under the microscope. Zooming in. White cells, Red cells, Damaged infected cells and- "What the hell is that?"

He punched up the projection onto the wall, showing the swarm of life under the lens. Gwen saw Jack cup his hands over his mouth and nose and breathe into them. "It's working." He whispered to himself.

Striding the stairs, Owen examined the display projected on the wall, his arms reaching out and twisting the image around him. His hand reached to a shape that passed into other cells and then out again.

"I take it's that's not the virus?" Tosh said cautiously, not looking to be made a fool of again. Owen looked to her and shook his head.

"So... what's going on?" Gwen asked for the benefit of those with no understanding of virology.

Somehow, Owen managed to pull out an understandable layman's explanation without sounding incredibly patronising. "O.K. Normal white cells are like... Pac man. They eat damaged and mutated cells, fighting off threats from within and without, recycle basic materials. Problem is, the Haemovore virus is such a virulent bastard that the cells mutate to the point where the organism is irrevocably changed. Or the immune system eats the victim alive due to the sheer amount of cell damage."

"Nasty." Gwen murmured.

"Yeah," Owen sighed before he continued. "However, " he raised his hand, and indicated the according cell "Ianto has a kind of white cell I've never seen before. It seems to reprogram and rebuild the damaged cells."

"Is alien?" Toshiko asked.

"Well, I've never seen anything like it. I'd like to know where the hell he picked it up from."

Turning from the display on the wall, Gwen looked to Jack. Slowly he turned and faced them all. "Yeah..." He breathed like an admission of guilt. "That'd be me." All eyes turned to him, awaiting an explanation. "That blood cell is part of a fifty-first century immune system."

"I'm sorry," Owen entered his scepticism before Jack could even begin an explanation. "Fifty-first century?"

"The time agency couldn't risk being infiltrated by Haemovores. All us time agents were given engineered white cells to prevent any sort of viral take over-"

Another interruption came from Owen, "And again I'm asking what the hell a time agent is?"

Ignoring him Jack continued, already divulging more about his past than he cared to. "The cells sit dormant, looking like a regular lymphocyte, until it comes into contact with one of its set trigger viruses."

"O.K," Toshiko accepted the explanation so far. "But how did Ianto end up with these white cells?"

Jack considered for a minute, realising he wasn't going to get away with any half truths. "The Haemovore virus is a cunning bastard. The big fear was that if a vaccine was given that it'd eventually adapt and the virus would just sidestep it. So only a select few were ever inoculated."

"Oh, so you're alright, screw everyone else." Owen added.

A near smile hit Jacks face. "Funny you should say that. Either by accident or design these white cells are transferable from person to person. We all thought it was the scientists way of living with themselves."

"Hold on." Owen said, "These white cells are transferable? For that you'd need to pass it through blood or bodily flu-," He stopped as he got a complete metal image of what had taken place.

For anyone who hadn't quite twigged, Jack clarified. "Sexually Transmitted immunity."

Toshiko tried to hold off looking scandalised. Gwen found herself smirking slightly and turned away. "Hell of a silver bullet, " she chuckled as Jack pointed to her warningly.

Shaking his head Owen managed to speak. "Oh you disgust me on so many levels."

Once again Jack chose to ignore him. "My big question is- transferability is limited. I've only heard of it lasting about eighty years. I'm a little beyond that."

A moment passed, before Gwen spoke, hoping she hadn't come up with a horrifically obvious answer. "Well, wouldn't that cover the normal life span of a human?"

"I doubt they would have had the chance to test it beyond that," Tosh added in.

"Not to mention," Owen commented, "I assume you haven't aged since your little immortality accident."

Yep. That was all painfully obvious. Jack looked slightly sheepish. "Yeah," He sighed. "Am I clinically stupid?"

His question was met by a combination of shrugs and nods. The self deprication of the moment passed. No time for this now. Jacks voice changed as he went back to being the boss "Ok. This just went from being salvage to a rescue. Tosh, do you have anything yet?"

"Jack, the area is massive and I haven't been able to throw a search programme together."

He sighed, but didn't want to seem defeatist. "O.K, get back to it. At least we know what we're looking for this time." Tosh left the room as Jack turned to Owen. "Owen, we need to talk treatment."

Gone was what Gwen had hoped was a partially feigned look of disgust. Suddenly Owen was focused on what was at hand. "Right, we can't take him to hospital, can't risk the infection spreading. One misplaced needle, one spilled blood sample and we're in the shit."

"Can you treat him here?" Jack gripped him by the shoulders, looking for a positive.

Owen contemplated, half scowled. He didn't seem to like the idea. "Won't be comfortable, but yeah. Certainly do-able."

"Ok, Get ready," Jack directed him, before addressing Gwen in a hushed tone. "Gwen?"

"Yeah?"

"I could use a really strong coffee. The room's spinning round and round."


	20. Ianto is not that kind of boy

Cold, that must be shock setting in. Dripping blood cools on contact with the February air. Sharp unsteady breaths make little clouds. It was cold, but not like Ianto felt it. It ran right through him like Hypothermia, permeating bone, muscle, skin. Slows the brain. Cinematic slow-mo like a cheesy horror flick.

Strange vision. Layer of fuzz under his eyelids. Street light glows orange. Hellish tint to the room. He couldn't imagine day light through the window. How could real light ever touch this place?

The image was distorted in the glass. The window didn't reflect. It wasn't the windows error. She didn't have a reflection. She just showed as hot air, shimmering and causing the real world to ripple. She didn't have a reflection. Ianto can see his reflection fading as well, Even lying on the floor he looks transparent, only the red stains mark him as present.

He didn't look like that in Jacks office. In the glass he could see himself. Last week, when they were in the office, He realised he'd never seen Jacks face as they-. He'd never seen Jacks face as they finished. Ianto had watched, he'd kept his eyes on Jack the whole time.

Cold clouds escape from his throat. Jack was coming for him, but that wasn't enough. The vampire straddled him, pressed against his crotch, his blood on her lips.

He didn't want to die. Jack said there was nothing on the other side, Just darkness. Darkness forever. It was better than being like her. But darkness, nothing and no-one? Darkness on two sides, but as always he knew there was another choice. His mouth was dry with chilled air. Don't yield to despair. He wanted to live, he wanted- a latte. A tall latte with frothed milk. Fresh ground Guatemalan beans. And two sugars. He needed the energy kick from the sugar. Normally he hated sugar in coffee but...

Bacon sandwich on granary bread. Dash of brown sauce.

Retracting his feet into bed on cold Sundays, wondering why duvets were never long enough to cover him neck to toe.

Cardiff Blues who never bloody win.

Mica and David trying to murder each other at Christmas dinner. Rhiannon threatening to bang their heads together. Jonny just thinks it's funny.

The Manic Street Preachers.

Blue/ Grey wool. Practical classic. Never goes out of style. Warm against him.

Billion dollar smiles. Cheesy, smutty over the top comments. Jacks face reflected in glass.

A hand touched his crotch. It's finger traced along the seam of his trousers. The fabric tightened, as did Iantos' stomach. Okay. That was probably why he wasn't dead. That's what she needed him for. That was the main reason Jack had tried to chloroform him. Intoxication hit him again, more like drowning than tiredness now. Its hand reached up to his stomach, then pushed downward into his trousers, boxers. He grabbed it by the throat and pushed it back. His hands were invisible again. His arms were weak and it shifted an inch or so before throwing him back. A swift back of the hand clashed into his cheek, the long nails drawing blood. It leaned forwards and licked the blood from his face, her breath metallic against his cheek.

Adrenaline rose. He hadn't been hit by a girl since he was thirteen, and even then it was Rhiannon. It coursed through him, helped clear his head. She was no different from a weevil. That thought helped his fist contact its jaw and knock it away from him.

It lay dazed for a moment as Ianto rolled onto his side and tried to stand. His hands touched the floor but made no sign they had done so other than dripping blood. His arms arched but legs failed. Ok, he wasn't going to walk out of here.

The creature roared and retaliated, baring its blood stained teeth. It lunged back toward Ianto whose legs that had failed him a moment ago suddenly worked and kicked the creature in the stomach, sending it across the room. The barefooted kick pushed it across the rotting floor boards and into the beam holding up the roof. It reverberated from contact and the house seemed to shift, the roof wobbled, chunks of the ceiling fell in and dust descended like mist. Ianto scrabbled backwards against the wall, then used it to pull himself upright. Pressed against the wall like a shadow, he then stepped forward. Another step. One more. Forward- the wood snapped beneath his feet and gave way, swallowing his left leg to the knee causing the rest of him to come crashing down.

The shock drained him. All the strength he'd accumulated was spent. Ianto pulled his leg out of the hole, a two inch splinter embedded in his calf. There was more blood. He couldn't take any more of this.

Ianto lay back on the floor. He wanted to cry. The creature moved back towards him. Coming in for the kill. That was it. He'd lost. Nothing left to fight with. He'd never even see Jack again.

Lunging forward it sank it's teeth back into his throat. Twisting, burrowing cainines. He screamed as his arm reached, just reached out. His fingers grasped sharp splintered floor board. His fist closed around it, ripping it out. The haemovore ran its hand down his chest, slicing his shirt and skin with nails. The wood slammed into it. There was a scream as the wood penetrated the flesh with a horrible squelch. It fell dead on top of him.

He pushed it away. Dead eyes looked away from him. No strength in his legs. He crawls, inching towards the stairs, but stars appear before him. Puts his head down. Cold again.

Coffee, Bacon, Sundays, Blues, Christmas, Manics, Jack.


	21. Gwen is subbing in

Much more sober than he was an hour ago, Jack rummaged through the stores in the lower levels. The needle in his arm taking blood into a bag made doing anything awkward, but in the absence of Ianto he'd had to fumble through storage himself. Finally, in a victorious gesture, he snatched up two metal tubes, each with a sliding button to one side. Keeping the ends of the tubes sealed, he activated them, placed them back down on the shelf, then jabbed at his wrist strap. The device hummed at him. The wrist strap hummed at a different pitch. Jack hummed along with the tubes and tuned his wrist strap accordingly.

Having succeeded in his mission, Jack picked up the devices again, along with two shotguns and enough shells to storm the beaches at Normandy.

As he stepped back into the centre of the Hub he passed Owen, who despite his pre-occupation still found time to tell him to sit down.

"Busy," Jack mumbled as he attempted to load one of the shot guns.

Examining the blood bag, Owen nodded to himself and tried to ease the needle out of Jacks arm. "Bad enough I couldn't wait for you to sober up." Jack scowled as he continued loading the shot gun. Owen slapped a plaster over the hole in Jacks arm and took the blood to the autopsy lab.

Coffee in hand, Gwen entered and placed the cup on the steps.

"Cheers." He murmured, putting the blood into the fridge. He turned back to Gwen and picked up a couple of ice packs. "Do me a favour and put these in the freezer."

He threw the ice packs and Gwen caught them. Owen threw a sheet over the autopsy table. Gwen put the ice packs down and instinctively went to help him. "What are his chances?"

Owen tucked the sheet back, then pressed on the lever and forced the table flat. "No idea," He shook his head, crossing the room to the pharmacy draw. He searched inside placing some drugs in his bag, and others on the surgical tray. "Too much to factor in. 'Though his Doctor is a genius so that at least goes in his favour."

Gwen smiled a little as she gathered up the ice packs. "Keep up the humility Owen."

"With an attitude like this how can I fail?" He proclaimed as she exited.

Gwen walked up the stairs, back into the kitchenette. She wedged the ice packs into the freezer, then delivered Tosh her coffee. Jack padded up the stairs back into his office.

"How are you doing Tosh?" She asked, placing the cup on the edge of Toshikos desk. All the screens were lit, though three of them remained frozen.

The question seemed to touch a nerve as Tosh pushed her keyboard away angrily, took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "Bloody Awful. How the hell am I supposed to find him? There's too much here for one person to look at."

Reaching out, Gwen's hand strayed onto her shoulder. "Come on, I'll help you out."

Still paused, Tosh turned to Gwen. "What if we don't find him?"

A reassuring, but not completely genuine smile met her question. "We will."

Toshiko glanced upwards, her voice lowering as Jack poked his head out of his office. "In time?" There came no reply from Gwen who went to her own desk and started looking though footage.

"Has anyone seen my car keys?" Jack asked, oblivious to the conversation.

"By the coffee machine," Gwen pointed, not looking away from the footage her and Toshiko were fixated on.

Jack padded down the stairs and snatched up the keys before pausing in thought. "Don't suppose you've seen my Bluetooth?"

Almost automatically Gwen replied, "On the filing cabinet in your office."

A smile tugged at the corner of Toshiko's mouth. She looked to Gwen who stayed fixed on the screen. "Keep looking Tosh," She started. "If we don't find him I'll spend the prime of my life helping Jack find his keys."

"Right," Owen announced his presence as he entered from the autopsy room, slurping his coffee in a fashion unbecoming a gentleman. "I'm ready, all I need now is a patient."

"Great." Gwen replied, not looking away from the screens at her desk. "You can help us out."

A sigh came from Owen, clearly feeling he was much too important to get stuck with what was by far the worst job at present. "I'll get eye strain."

The retort from Gwen came as a reflex, perhaps not one hundred percent serious but she was wound up enough to have a sharp edge to her voice."Get a smack in the mouth if you don't help out."

"Well, that's just typical police brutality."

Already suffering from eye strain, on top of a tremendous headache caused by crying earlier, Toshiko was not in the mood for this. She turned to Owen, "Shut up!"

Poking his head out of his office again, Jack could see the team were fraying around the edges. "Can you kids fight later when the clocks not ticking?"

Looking to Jack, Owen could feel himself tense up. Jacks less than flawless record in staying impartial to events as of late just gave him ammunition. "You're right." Owen stated, the sarcasm apparent in his voice. "Let's all get drunk and trash the office, Cos that's productive."

Mercifully, at that moment Gwen's phone started to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket, she didn't take a moment to look at the caller ID. Raising the phone to her ear, she covered the other to enable her to hear the conversation on the line, rather than the petty snipping occurring around her.

"Are you gonna bitch all night?" Jack asked from the top of the stairs.

"Hello," Gwen answered her phone, expecting Rhys to call her soon anyway. She was surprised by the voice on the other end.

"Gwen," came by a way of greeting. That was a warmingly familiar voice.

"Oh, Hi Andy." She began, about to tell him how unexpected his call was.

Andy spoke first. "Spotted him."

It took a moment for Gwen to realise what he meant. "What?" She smiled, almost unbelieving further good news. "Where?"

"Fair Oak Road, Cathays. About an hour and a half ago. Person of his description wondering around barefoot."

She covered the phone and spoke to the waiting team, "Sighted on Fair Oak Road about ninety minutes ago."

Wordlessly Tosh pulled up the camera network from Fair Oak and wound it back ninety minutes.

"Weird thing is," Andy continued, "they say he just vanished into thin air."

Keeping half an ear on both conversations, Gwen watched as Toshiko ran through the footage, seeing Jacks shoulders tense at the sight of Ianto appearing on the screen.

"There he is!" Tosh couldn't help but shout out loud, feeling slightly sheepish a moment later. No one looked at her strangely thank God.

"So what, we trace him from here?" Owen asked.

"No," Jack said having considered. "Have any sewage works been carried out in that area lately?"

"What?" Toshiko replied as a reflex to another request that didn't make much sense to her.

"Just-," Jack didn't have to complete the sentence as Tosh searched through the information. He clearly had no patience left, Hardly surprising given the situation.

Turning her attention back towards Andy, Gwen spoke again. "Yep, that's about what we expected,"

"Vanishing?" Andy considered, " Well that's... that's..."

"Spooky?" She finished for him.

Tapping the keyboard with finality, Toshiko pressed the last key that brought up a lead."On Llaniog road, adjacently. They keep going through the drainage system."

"Looking for a bad smell," Owen contributed.

Turning to Gwen, Jack put his hand out. "Give me the phone."

She passed it over, wondering what Jack would have to say to her old partner. "Andy, you're a lifesaver. Literally. Just keep the police out of this, she'll call you back." Jack ended the call and turned back to Tosh. "Let's see the street."

A street view popped up on the screen, the quality wasn't brilliant, the picture was several years old. "Terraced housing," Tosh informed," All earmarked for demolition."

"Any cameras around there?" Jack inquired, his eyes fixed on the screen.

Punching up again, the images appeared on another screen. Tosh clicked to fast forward and the screen was flickering from blips.

"That's it. Gotta be." Jack concluded.

"Castle Anthrax," Owen contributed, at the very least finding himself witty.

Crossing to the coat stand, Jack pulled his coat back on. They all watched as he loaded up his pockets with shot gun shells and a small metallic tube. Finally, turning to them all, Jack spoke. "Ok. Good Job, all of you."

That sounded terribly like-

"Wait a minute," Gwen started.

Shaking her head, Tosh felt the need to dissuade him. "You're not going on your own."

"Certainly not driving in that state," Owen blithely remarked.

He looked between them, wondering when this became a democracy. Jack addressed them all. "You know what we're going up against."

Standing, Gwen stepped towards Jack. "That's why we're not going to sit on our arses waiting for you to come back."

"Do I get a say in this?"

To Jack's surprise, Owens next comment was vaguely sensible. "You're not going in there without a doctor."

He considered, then crossed the hub and picked up the two shot guns. "Ok" he conceded. "Two teams." He turned back to Owen and gestured to each shotgun in turn, "You want Betty or Wilma?"


	22. Haemovores have never played Doom

It was still an hour until dawn, the sky was un-naturally dark. Heavy clouds kept any light from reaching the city, let alone the four figures emerging into the street out of the Black SUV. The conciliatory warmth that cloud cover should have brought was absent, the air stayed as cold as if the night was clear. Wordlessly, Jack indicated the far end of the five house terrace to Toshiko and Owen. They nodded in acknowledgement, then headed in their indicated direction. Jack slipped a metal tube into Owens hand and another silent exchange took place before he followed Toshiko.

Nodding to Gwen, Jack gestured to the opposite end of the terrace Toshiko and Owen had been sent in. The smell of putrefaction had been apparent the moment they'd opened the doors to the SUV. It hung in the air, lingering and as apparent as the breath from their lungs. It was bitterly cold. The street lights lit up the features on the houses as they would anywhere else, but Gwen could note the subtle differences if she looked hard enough. The crumbling chimneys, the missing panes of glass. Weeds didn't grow through the cracks in the masonry. No signs of life bar the smell of rat piss. Llaniog Terrace might as well have a sign informing that this street housed something un-natural.

Approaching the back of the first house, Jack ducked down flaking steps and peered through a basement window. He prised it open and was almost knocked back by the smell. The stench slapped Gwen in the face as she leant forward over Jacks hunched shoulder. She could make out bodies piled high, floor to ceiling. Stacked and left to rot. These houses had become tombs. How could this many people be missing and un-noticed? There was hardly an inch to spare. That was why the bodies had been dumped at the cemetery chapels, it was a slip up. They weren't supposed to be found. They needed a new dumping ground and thought they'd found a suitable venue. Gwen shivered as Jack reached into his coat and extracted a metal tube. Gwen couldn't quite see as he reached inside the window, pressed the tube to the wall which attached a small white disk to the brick work.

Retracting his hand, Jack resealed the window. He stepped up to the back door of the house, examining for weaknesses in the frame. He poked it with a firm middle finger and the wood warped beneath it.

Owen delivered a kick to the door that reduced it to splinters. He hadn't intended on such a spectacular entrance, but the wood had shattered. It was so decayed that putting his foot against it had reduced it to near dust.

He stepped forward, desperately trying to disregard the smell that bombarded his sinuses. He didn't quite want to retch, the smell was in every molecule of air, which at the very least gave him no basis for comparison of how bad it was. The room they'd entered was a kitchen, or had been. Mould and mildew scaled the walls, the rusty taps oozed brown. Behind him Toshiko stifled a cough. He wished she wasn't here. No offence to her but she was more of a liability than any help to him. Nervously his hands wrung at the shotguns barrel.

Dust fell from the chimney behind them. Owen gasped and turned on his heel towards it. It was nothing, just falling soot mixed with dissolving brickwork. It was fine, it was just him and Tosh walking around a creepy rotting, fetid disgusting house potentially full of- a hand grabbed him by the throat and pushed him against the wall. He dropped the shotgun, it clattered to the ground without firing.. Toshiko tried to pull it away from him but the Haemovores un-natural strength pushed her back against the opposite wall. Toshiko slipped down, then sat, dazed for a moment as it moved in on Owen.

The creature leant forward, Owen felt strange, and weak. He didn't struggle. He couldn't struggle. Shit. The teeth came towards his throat, no resistance.

Blood splattered Owen as the Haemovores chest exploded on contact with the shot gun shell. It crumpled to the floor immediately dead, showing Owen the sight of Toshiko backed against the wall, smoking gun in her hands.

All Owen could do for the moment was gasp.

Checking Gwen was still behind him, Jack stepped into the hallway, Shotgun primed. He stepped over the gaping holes in the floor, the decaying flesh stacked underneath it visible between the cracks. He made towards the front door of the house, aware that the likelihood of it being as empty as the last one not high.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something flicker. His instinct was to ignore it, but his instincts hadn't served him well lately. He didn't see where it came from, but clearly saw it reach for Gwen. He turned and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her out of its reach before he tackled the Haemovore with the butt of the shotgun. Gwen took the Gun as he restrained the creature against him.

It laughed, it laughed like a happy child. Gwen was chilled by the sound coming from it. It didn't look more than sixteen. Then it inhaled at Jacks arm, breathing him in. Enjoying it. Disgust flashed across Jacks face before he spoke.

"Smells familiar?" He asked repositioning his arms, one holding it firmly across the chest, the other pushing its head hard to one side. "Where is he?"

It laughed, it just laughed at him. Succumbing to fury, Jack snapped its neck.

Trying to put out of his mind what had just happened, Owen inched forward. Bloody hell he was glad he'd brought Toshiko with him. She could watch his back any day. She even proceeded half a step in front of him, seeing how shaken he'd been by the Haemovore.

They slowly proceeded through the ground floor hallway, each step creaking painfully. Tosh tried not to look down at the gaping floorboards and corpses beneath them. She heard a noise in front of her and stopped. She turned to Owen who shared the same curious expression. It sounded like animal s eating.

Owen stepped over to the other side of the hall and leaned towards the doorway. Toshiko tried to peer forward but slipped. Owen grabbed her and pulled her against him to stop her falling through the cracks. She could see into the room. About twelve Haemovores were ripping a carcass to pieces. Her stomach turned over and she gripped Owen. He shook his head.

"It's not him," He whispered, "Whatever they're eating's wearing jeans."

As she breathed with relief a noise behind them made her pant with fear. She gripped Owen harder, and he returned the gesture as they stood trapped between two groups of Haemovores. Toshiko reached for her gun.


	23. Ianto is fading away

There was fresh blood at the bottom of the staircase. Jack knelt and looked at the dotted trail. His eyes followed it up the fragile steps, coming to rest on the third stair. He made out toes and the heel of a footprint. How many Haemovores had size ten feet and walked around barefoot?

Cautiously, Jack trod the stairs, hearing the creak under his feet far more painfully given the silence. Gwen followed, checking behind them constantly. If a pack of Haemovores came in behind them now they'd be trapped. Jack stopped and passed her the shotgun, ready with his pistol just in case. He peered into the darkness of the first floor. Gwens heart was in her throat as she momentarily took her eyes off the stairs behind them. She couldn't see a damn thing.

With his flash light, Jack pointed a narrow beam of light around the floor. The first thing he found was a dead Haemovorve. It's chest pierced with splintered wood. He inched forward and the room shifted. The whole house seemed to shake. He shone the torch upward and found the beam bolstering the roof, now verging on breaking in two.

The room shook again, Gwen called to Jack.

"He's here," Jack whispered, the frustration coming through in his voice. "I'm sure of it."

She glanced upwards and around the floor again. "I don't see him Jack."

He looked to her, "We might not." He paused and listened. He shushed Gwen and listened again. There it was. Laboured breathing.

He looked again, all the corners, the edges, the inconsistencies in the room. The roof shifted again. Dust settled a few inches above the floor boards about five meters away. Jack looked again. Dust mixed with blood. He saw an arm move. There was condensation from him breathing.

Without thinking Jack stepped onto the floor and it gave way underneath him.

The feasting Haemovores all stopped and looked upward towards where the crash had come from. They turned and saw Owen and Toshiko. They let go of each other and stood back to back. Owen pumped the shotgun and fired. The noise of the gunfire alerted the second set of Haemovores who charged into the corridor. Tosh kept squeezing the trigger on her gun, as Owen steadied himself from the recoil of the gunshot.

It made it up three stairs before Gwen blew a hole into its body and it slid back down. She waited for a moment for any more to appear, but hearing the duel gun fire from the house next door seemed to be offering them reasonable cover.

She turned and reached out to Jack who was struggling to pull himself out of the hole he'd made in the floorboards. He grabbed her arm and pulled himself out, steadying himself back on the staircase. He leant forward, stretching his arms. The gap between his reach and Ianto might as well have been a million miles.

They couldn't reach Ianto. The house shook again. Jack turned back to her. "Get out Gwen."

She shook her head, "I'm not going without both of you." Behind Jack she looked in the darkness, she saw the form of a man, his eyes flickered open and seemed to make the rest of him more visible. "Jack," She pointed and he turned.

He knelt back at the top of the stairs. The ceiling shook. Jack reached out with his arm again. "Give me your hand."

Painfully, Ianto's arm reached forward. It was stuck to the floor with dried blood. His hands were still not visible. His fingertips brushed against Jacks. He couldn't move any further.

"Come on," Jack breathed. Ianto shook his head. Didn't Jack understand he was dying? How could he move like this? "I can't get to you. You have to do it yourself."

With his other arm, Ianto pulled himself forward an inch. Then again. Painful inches, Ianto's elbow unbent, reaching. The world was fragile. Jack was the only solid thing in the room. The floor creaked. The room shook. Jacks fingers stretched up to his wrist and clasped it. Ianto gripped him back and Jack wrenched him across the floor, causing it to fall in like melting ice. The whole house crumbled around them.

They fell part way down the stairs from the resulting force before Jack was able to pull him over his shoulder and run.


	24. Jack is in no mood to discuss it

Gwen wasn't sure when she'd made it outside, there were none of the signs of temperature or light changes to help her acknowledge in her hurried state. She became aware she was standing in the road, and as the adrenaline blindness wore off she turned to check Jack had followed her out. He lumbered a few steps behind her, dusty and weighed down by Ianto's limp form held over his shoulder. His dark hair was grey with debris and in the dim light she could see the years of Jack's life written out on his face. He knelt in the road and rested Ianto against the concrete. Gwen knelt beside them, she could see Ianto was still breathing from the condensation blowing from his mouth. Jacks arms lowered him down before he stood.

"Stay with him." It sounded like an order, stiff, formal. There was blood on Jacks shirt.

Pulling him up by the shoulders, Gwen rested Ianto against her, half in her arms, half across her lap. He was so cold, but he didn't shiver. He hardly moved at all. She went to hold his hand, but couldn't see it. Bloody hell. Her arms wrapped around his chest, not tightly. "It's alright Sweetheart. We're here."

Walking away a few paces, Jack reached up and tapped his Bluetooth. "Owen, Tosh. Are you clear?"

There was a sharp exhale and Ianto's eyes blinked open for a moment. He wasn't really awake, it was more a mental photograph he'd review later. Gwen said something but he couldn't process it properly. His eyes rolled back and she gripped his hand.

Her fingers ran down his arm, at the blur of his wrist she reached down. Gwen touched his knuckles and from there found his fingers and knotted them between hers. Looking up, she saw Jack tap his wrist strap then crouch on the ground. A moment later the houses seemed to... well... glow. They started becoming brighter, a white light. Screams echoed and there was a high pitched whine. It made Gwen's teeth ache and the veins on her temples thud. There were women screaming. The roofs collapsed in on themselves. The glow scorched the buildings, then a flash of intense heat that climaxed in blinding light knocked Jack backwards a little. Gwen turned her head and screwed up her eyes, instinctively leaning forward over Ianto. When she looked back, the buildings were razed to the ground, only burning rubble remained. She heard the sound of rain starting to fall around her.

Jack tapped his Bluetooth again, standing tall against the sight of the flames. "You two OK? Good get over here."

Breathlessly he turned back to Gwen and Ianto. She looked at him incredulous. "Jack you just-" She shook her head as he knelt. "We could have done something for them. We could've helped them."

He reached across and pulled Ianto away from her, but she didn't loosen her grip. The rain was frozen, hailstones failing tentatively moments before the heavens opened. His voice was tired and impatient. "Not now Gwen."

"But all those people-"

"-WERE ALREADY DEAD!" Jack snatched Ianto away from her, pulling him upright into an embrace. Ice grazed their cheeks, Jack pulled Ianto tight against him and stretched his coat around him. The sky unloaded as he desperately tried to put some warmth back into Ianto's body, waiting long moments before Owens feet thudded around the street corner.


	25. Gwen has run out of empathy

Stillness followed. Eerie calm. There was no epic battle for life, not on Ianto's part. There was no gasp of victory having defeated death, much like Jacks frequent resurgences into life. No dramatic clutching of anyone's hand, no defiant shouting, no eyes darting for familiarity, protesting life. He lay limp, pale and blue-tainted on the autopsy table, covered to the chest with blankets. Deeply unconscious, the only fight going on based around perpetual breathing. Basic, simple and taking all his effort. Shuddering staggered breaths. He was doing well enough to not have a tube shoved down his throat, which was a violation he could do without given recent events.

The drama had been in the SUV. Owen shouting profanities, unable to find a vein in his hands or arm thanks to Ianto's new found invisibility. Blood soaking into Jacks shirt, him yelling at Gwen to drive faster. Gwen turning around and shouting back at him that she can't drive any faster in a fucking hailstorm. Then Tosh screaming at Gwen to keep her eyes on the road.

Everything was business the minute he was deposited on the autopsy table. Clothes get sliced off. Owen finds a vein in his arm this time, feeds in a cannula and hangs the blood. Pressure dressings get changed, blood still drips, from every abrasion and cut. Anti-coagulants make everything worse. Blood and dust shade Ianto's face. Jack traces a flesh coloured path leading from Ianto's tear duct down to his cheek. Then Owen, fed up with not getting a response from Jack shoved him out the way.

That was nine hours ago. Finally his blood had clotted and stopped dripping onto the sheets. Pressure dressings came off and bandages went on. The splinter came out of his legs and stitches went in. He was still cold and Jack threw another blanket over him. The scratches on his face started to scab over and at that point Owen decided to collapse on the sofa. Minutes later his soft snoring overshadowed the barely stated rise and fall of Ianto's chest.

There was nothing more Jack could do. He'd long since wiped away the blood and dust as well as he could, warm water just exposing how ill Ianto was. He didn't hold his hand, since Owen had gone he didn't touch Ianto. He seemed almost afraid to. Earlier it was all he could do. He clutched him as the wait between breaths got long enough to be terrifying. Silently praying for continuation. Now he couldn't, his hand hovered and hesitated. Like contact would make things much worse.

Gwen's voice floated in from the main hub, Tosh could catch snippets of conversation. She must be on the phone to someone, probably a relation of Ianto's. She wouldn't talk to Jack, Gwen hadn't said a word to him since the SUV. She'd let him stand there on his own, offering no comfort as Owen worked. Why had Gwen gone so cold? What had Jack done to deserve that- what could anyone do to deserve that? A great friend she was to him.

"Toshiko?"

It had been an age since he spoke. She hadn't been sure he'd even noticed her presence. He used her full name. Only her parents called her that.

"Yes Jack?" She replied, feeling like an acolyte to a martyr.

She stood and stepped towards him. He didn't turn, didn't raise or lower his voice. There was no emotion, he sounded cold to everything. "Go wake Owen up , I've got things to do."

Before she could lay a cautious hand on his arm, he turned and left, without laying a finger on Ianto. She waited a moment as he thudded up the stairs before Tosh stepped forward and placed her hand on Ianto's arm. Small beads of sweat lay on his forehead. She thought nothing of it and squeezed his arm.

Gwen's eyes followed Jack up the stairs as she hung the phone up. Tosh entered, walked passed her desk and the massive bunch of flowers now resting on it and crossed over to Owen. She nudged him awake. He moaned and mumbled before opening his eyes. "Wha? Oh hi Tosh."

Sitting up he yawned and flexed his neck. His hair had lost all cohesion and hair gel and he struggled to smooth it back down. Tosh wondered if that was how he looked in the morning. "What is it babe?" He asked very casually, "any change"?

She shook her head and smiled. "Jack needs a break."

"Right," he considered. "Fair enough." Tosh walked away towards the coffee machine as he looked over to Gwen, "You talk to the family?"

Gwen nodded, "Told them he went to Scotland for a work thing and got Meningitis. They were worried but I told them he's OK and they shouldn't come running."

"Well, it's about as close to the truth as we can get. Shame you had to tell them he'd be OK."

She started to protest before Owen stopped her. "Not a criticism Gwen, couldn't tell them how bad he is without getting a reaction. Just would have been nice to be honest."

Owen hauled himself to his feet with a yawn and stretched upward, before making his way back to the lab. Gwen looked up to Jacks office for a moment and considered before following Owen. Tosh poured the second coffee and picked it up, trying to remember if Jack took sugar.

The desk up-righted as Tosh entered the office, Jack looked at her for a split second, as if to ask her to leave before she spoke.

"I made you coffee," She announced like it was a true achievement. She held the cup out to him and Jack couldn't help but smile. Her near social ineptitude was sometimes quite endearing.

"Thank you," He smiled, not quite wide enough to demonstrate his fantastic dentistry. He sipped it, it looked more like politeness than enjoyment.

"That's what I came to say to you." She began, causing Jack to look puzzled. How expected. "For the flowers," She explained, having already guessed Jack was the money rather than the act.

He grinned slightly sheepishly, having completely forgotten about Toshiko's achievements again. "Oh yeah, I heard Owen sneezing. It's really Ianto you should thank, he did all the organising."

She considered, then spoke. "I will... when he's better."

Another smile came from Jack, it was odd one. False agreement. He looked away from her and at the state of his office. "I need to get this cleaned up, he'll murder me if he sees this." Bending over, he extracted a pile of paper, the top one was a note from Ianto asking what was so difficult about filing in some semblance of order.

Tosh declined to leave, she leaned against the desk, letting Jack get on as she spoke. "Ianto's... very dear to you, isn't he?"

It was a very roundabout way of putting it and Jack replied thus. "You're all very dear to me. " He stood and replaced his paperweight, before up-righting the bin.

She tried again to state her meaning. "Not like Ianto is." She panicked as to if she should be pushing the subject. "Sorry, I'm... I'm intruding."

Jack paused, then leaned against the desk next to her. "No, you're OK."

"I'm not very good at this." She waited a moment, then tentatively continued. "So you've been- I mean you're-"

Mercifully Jack smiled. "Let's go back to your original question."

"O.K."

He considered for a moment, shuffling his feet. "Yes."

For a moment Toshiko thought that one word would be all he had to say on the subject. She worried that Jack would only talk to Gwen before he eventually spoke again "Because it's not just losing one of you. Having someone grounds me, makes me feel like a person, not just-."

Was immortality that bad? She never thought of Jack as having lost touch with his own humanity. Maybe that was why. Despite his undying status he was still desperate to have as normal a life as possible.

"Having someone keeps me fighting, gives me something to get out of bed for in the morning- or in some cases keep me there."

He grinned a moment, his memory flitting back to something she could only imagine. Then his face melted back into serious.

"This happening is a reminder that none of this is forever, but I am. One day, I'm going to outlive everyone I've ever loved. And that terrifies me. No matter what I do, I'm going to end up alone."

She tried to comfort him, to think of something useful to say. "We got him back."

"But we didn't save him. Not for me. We just put off the inevitable."

Toshiko wanted to tell him it was worthwhile, that what Jack did was worthwhile on behalf of everyone else, but she felt poorly qualified to make such a statement. So stayed decidedly silent. She reached out and touched his hand, he grabbed it as if in doing so he could stop it from ever slipping away from him.

"Sometimes I think, maybe I should just- not." There was a dry laugh. It was sincere. He looked at her and she felt obliged to smile. "Can you see me celibate? Because it's ridiculous. Find Monogamy hard enough"

Her worry fell away, he was laughing at his predicament. That must be good. Surely?

"Immortality is mostly a curse, but on the off chance it is a blessing, I have an obligation."

Grinning, she chuckled at the concept. Maybe Jack had discovered the meaning of life- or at the very least his own life.

"What's the point in my being alive if I can't feel it? If I can't have my heart thudding in my chest once in a while, what's the point in having it?"

Finally, he stood straight, as if to declare the conversation over. In all honesty, Toshiko was astounded that she'd done that well in getting Jack to open up.

"I should clean this up- he'll kill me if he sees this."

Toshiko smiled, then nodded, and went to leave, but was grabbed from behind in a spontaneous bear hug. He kissed her on the cheek. "Congratulations on your paper."

She'd been about to reply, feeling her cheeks turn red. When something crashed in the autopsy room. Jack turned to her before racing down the stairs.


	26. Ianto is gloriously understated

Gwen was just finishing the word "No," in Owens direction as Jack crossed the threshold. Owen quickly pulled a needle out of Ianto's arm and put it behind his own back.

"What happened?" Jack asked, not missing the sleight of hand on Owens part.

A stammer came out as Toshiko could sense that Owen wasn't being completely honest. "N-n- nothing, just –uh. Knocked over the tray."

He knelt down and helped Gwen pick up the floored contents, slyly slipping the used needle among the items. Owen mouthed at her, to which she silently glared at him.

Approaching the table, Jack could see the change. Sweat. Rolling off him. Soaked with perspiration. Eyes darted behind his eyelids. "Whoa. Why didn't you come get me?"

"Literally just happened," Owen appeared from the floor holding an aural thermometer. He pushed it into Ianto's ear and took a reading. "Shit."

All eyes looked to Owen, questioning the cause of his outburst. "His temperatures risen half a degree in a literal minute."

Slipping her hand into Jacks, Toshiko spoke, feeling Jack's palm squeeze against hers. Gwen couldn't help but notice. She looked away as Tosh spoke. "How bad is it?

"About five minutes from cooking." Owen concluded, pulling blankets back until Ianto was covered by a single sheet. He was not gonna let him cook. He'd been up all night and hadn't got him out of shock and hypothermia, not to mention the small seizure a moment ago to have him cook. "Gwen, I need those ice packs."

"Right," She acknowledged, before doing as she was asked.

A discomforted groan came from Ianto. There were no words, he wasn't even awake, but it was a vocalisation powerful enough to bring attention to his distress.

Jack couldn't stay distant. He dropped Tosh's hand and stepped forward, hearing Owen mumble as much comfort as he could muster." Easy mate, you're all right."

Running down corridors at canary wharf. They were never that long when he worked here. Blood, death, screaming. Battle cries of Exterminate against those of Delete. Where was Lisa? She was close, he could hear her screaming. He screams her name, over and over. He rounds a corner and a Cyberman grabs him, that cold steel hand on his chest, taking the air from him. Still screaming. Twenty months later still screaming.

Eyes open, light blindness. Words garbled. Eyes dart from side to side, trying to hold on anything. The lights are too bright. Sore neck. Something in his arm. Try not to panic.

"Look at me."

Focus. Blurs become shapes, lungs full of glue. It wasn't the hand of a Cyberman, it was an icepack. Ice packs? What the hell are they thinking? He was freezing. Brain feels like it's detached and floating around his skull. He can smell flowers. Lilies. Shapes become faces. Jack was leant over him.

"Look at me."

Oh no. Don't say that. Jack only said that when people were dying. Say something else. He wanted to express that fact but it came out as a groan and a roll of the eyes. It elicited a radically different response from Jack.

"Hi," Billion dollar smile on the side.

Ianto tried to say Hello but found his chest convulsing, trying to clear his lungs. Owen picked up a stethoscope. Jack in turn, picked Ianto up, hauling him forward giving Owen space to listen to his lungs. His head spun from being wrenched upright. That wasn't very gentle. He prayed Jack had hold of him firmly, because his spine seemed to be made of jelly. Someone pressed a glass to Ianto's lips. He gulped a little water down before he was laid back.

He looked around, taking in the situation and trying to assess what was happening. He wasn't in the freezer, although was bloody cold. Jack was smiling which meant- OK. He wasn't dead, or dying. He was however ill , although not hospitalised. That was probably good. He didn't seem to have any clothes thought was mercifully covered with a sheet. Why he couldn't have a blanket was anyone's guess. And he didn't have a catheter, which was a marvellous relief. The idea of being handled by Owen in that department made him shudder.

"I think you have a chest infection, surprisingly enough." Owen concluded.

A hand reached out and touched Ianto on the shoulder. Why did Jack have to be so damn formal? That was the last thing Ianto wanted right now. "How'd you feel?"

It was a loaded question. Quite honestly a stupid one. Ianto considered, in truth he was ready to start bawling his eyes out. Following that a torrent of abuse relating to what a stupid question that was. Then he'd like to put his head against Jacks shoulder and go to sleep. Of course, he didn't actually say any of that. "Oh... a bit poorly."

Jack smiled, glad to know they were joking about this already. Despite the layer of sweat, Ianto still shivered.

"I'm cold." He murmured, his eyes closing again.

Shaking his head, Jack tried to assure him."You're not."

What the hell was he talking about? He knew whether he was cold or not. It was- was it February? Ianto thought it was. It was an odd thing not to be able to recall. How long had the Haemovores had him? He wasn't sure. It seemed like a while. Ianto shuddered at the thought of them. Jacks voice brought him away from them.

"Trust me, you're not. That's the virus trying to cook you."

Oh, he still had the virus. Bollocks. It wasn't over yet. Jack had pulled a miracle out of his arse then, as per usual. Should have expected it really. He'd been so close to giving up. In his mind's eye he could see himself reaching out for Jack, like it had happened to someone else. "I was waiting for you," Ianto blinked the shimmer from his eyes," took your bloody time."

There was no apology, but Jack squeezed at his shoulder. "You weren't easy to find."

He hadn't wanted to sound angry, but Ianto could hear the tone in his previous statement had come out harder than intended. He didn't want to be angry. He didn't want to cry. He didn't want to put Jack through any more shit. "Sorry. "

Shaking his head, Jack smiled. Ianto couldn't tell if he was marvelled at the apology or just blank refusing it. "Don't be. You did good. Better than."

Owen pumped more pain killers and Iantos eyes closed. Suddenly they opened again, as if to remember that he shouldn't fall asleep. He looked to Jack, who hesitantly touched his face.

Everything was OK. He was safe to go to sleep. Pterodactyl needed feeding. Fuck it. Pain killers made the world too heavy.

Jack stayed a moment as Ianto's breathing went into a low level rasp. His lungs filled and wheezed, but continuation was a given.


	27. Ianto will be voting Plaid Cymru

Friday.

Twelve hours later Ianto woke again. He didn't feel quite so bad. His head was still thumping but he didn't mind the lights so much. Voices talked harshly, that was what had brought him round. Every inch of him ached. It wasn't so much that he felt better, he didn't feel so distant. He was part of the world again. Still very groggy. Hunger had come and gone, leaving his stomach aching at the very thought of food. His lungs weren't full of glue anymore, they were just made of lead. Clammy hands, cold sweat.

At a distance voices talked. Two men, one cockney one American. They were arguing. What a considerate place to stand and argue.

"So what, it's one rule for him, another for everyone else?" Owen hissed, the exhaustion of the last few days showing. That was wonderful. Ianto almost smiled at being correct of Owens jealous predictability.

A near snarl emitted from Jack in response. "Yes."

"You could cure- everything with this. Cure AIDS."

Wow. Owen sounded like a doctor then, not the self interested prat Ianto knew him to be. No that wasn't fair, he had just saved his life. Ianto wanted more pain killers, he started to hurt. His calf was sore where it went through the floorboards, he started feeling too warm again.

"No." Jacks reply came firmly, it sounded more like an order than a negative rhetoric.

There was a pause in the conversation as Ianto pulled the tubes from his nose. He didn't need them anymore. Had he ever needed them? Maybe earlier, things had been bad.

Owen was the first the break the silence. "So what, you're happy to live with this?"

There was another moment before Jack spoke, his voice rising all the time, but never quite shouting. It was more frustration. "You want to help the present at the expense of the future, yeah I can live with it."

Thirsty. His throat went dry at the thought of Haemovores. It had been all over him, lapping, biting, sucking. Its touch had made him hard, even though he was repulsed by it. Thirsty. Ianto sat up.

"I don't know how you sleep at-" Owen had started to say as a great clatter came from the autopsy lab.

The conversation finished, Jack was beside him before Ianto had even realised he was on the floor. "Hey! What are you doing?" Jacks arms pick him up like a small child, dropping him back on the table.

Oh, this was demeaning. It wasn't just the weakness in his legs that caught Ianto off guard, it was the fact the soles of his feet were rubbed raw. Still, always room for glibness. "Going for a walk."

No laughter. Jack kept a hand on his shoulder. The other only far enough away to grab him if Ianto collapsed from his sitting position. "My legs don't work." Only came out as a depressed mumble.

He coughed again, instinctively wrapping an arm over his diaphragm. His head felt heavier than the rest of his body. He had the urge to slump forward.

" You're still very weak." Owen glanced him over. Granted for someone who was nearly dead twenty four hours ago he was doing very well. Those immune cells were clever little bastards. But if he fell out of bed and broke his wrist Owen would murder him.

"Evidently." Was the most intelligent reply Ianto could muster. He looked to Jack, properly for the first time since he'd woken. He looked strange. The light hit him differently, he looked old. "What time is it?" Ianto asked, as he did realising he had no frame of reference. "What day is it?"

Jack replied, taking his hand off Ianto to look at his watch. "Friday, about four in the morning."

Last thing Ianto remembered with any clarity was Tuesday. Everything else was a blur of night terrors and scenes from cheap Gothic horror novels after that. He raised his hands to rub his eyes. He didn't notice until then. His stomach rolled in a moment of terror, before seeing the flesh shimmer and show itself, albeit in a momentary lapse. "What happened to my hands?"

It was the first meaningful contact Jack had made with him in a while. He put his hand on Iantos and squeezed it "They're better than they were," He commented, raising the arm so the hand was in front of Ianto's face. "They're fading in and out. Might be time to get some gloves." Jack dropped his hand, Ianto had felt the sweat on his palm. Their eyes met properly.

"Good news is I think you're going to be fine." Owen gave his verdict, unsympathetic to anything else transpiring in the room." Bad news being that you're quarantined here for two weeks."

Clarification came from Jack just as Ianto's stomach started knotting again. "Just around the hub, we're not locking you up."

That would have put him into meltdown. Ianto knew he could not deal with that right now. Well, being at the hub wouldn't be so bad. He didn't want to go home anyway. In fact there was only one place he wanted to be right now. "Do I have to spend another night on this thing? My back's killing me." Not to mention it was creepy, lonely, and cold.

Conflicting reply. Ianto rolled his eyes. How had they not discussed this yet? Oh, because they both thought they were always right.

Jack gave his argument for the defence. "He's much better, he's uncomfortable and getting no privacy. Not to mention it'll be quieter."

Ready to retort, Owen folded his arms, already knowing this was a battle he'd probably concede. "He could get worse."

"Then I'll bring him back out." Jack said as a near reflex.

Oh God. Ianto just wanted to go to sleep. He didn't want to be the centre of a tug of war. Then again he wasn't sleeping on the table. Not if the girls were coming back to work in a couple of hours.

"I wouldn't consider it constant observation." Owen replied, desperately stifling a yawn. He didn't know how much longer he could stay awake. But that didn't make Jack right.

"I'll check on him every hour."

Had he rehearsed this? He had an answer for everything. That made Owen tiredly, and somewhat insensitively aim his blows a little lower. "I'm not even sure he's compas mentas."

Just because Ianto didn't have a good knowledge of Latin, didn't mean his understanding was lacking. He'd've retorted if he'd had the strength. What the hell did Owen take him for?

However, Jack took the better route. For once showing he was indeed old enough to know better.

"Ianto, say Raxicoricophalapatorius."

"Raxicoricophalapatorius." He intoned, perfectly without hesitation, the only difference being the mild welsh inflections. It wasn't big or clever, but it bollocksed Owens argument up.

"Perfectly cogent." Jack smiled smugly, before addressing Owen in gracious victory tones." And he's not the only one who needs to sleep. I doubt you could get past the first syllable."

"Alright," Owen conceded, before adding a "not so fast." Oh the catch, there was always a catch."Need to do another spinal tap."

Another spinal tap? That inferred there had been one before. So it wasn't just the table that made his back hurt.

The packaging was pulled off a needle that made a breadknife look like a scalpel. Ianto considered if it was unmanly to feel a bit giddy looking at it. His head felt heavier again. All he could say was a dumb collaboration of words to the effect of "Ohhh that's a big needle."

"It's alright, you get the little one so you don't feel the big one."Truly that had all the comfort of a wire wool blanket. How someone as uncompassionate as Owen had ever got to be a doctor left Ianto puzzled as hell. "Lean forward."

Oh God he just wanted to go to sleep. Was that too much to ask? Jack gripped at his shoulders, his fingers striking Ianto's neck. He shuddered and flinched away. Jacks hands reasserted themselves, then forced Iantos head onto his shoulder. He tried to flinch again but Jack had him gripped too well this time. "Don't get excited."

There was a near laugh, it seemed an odd way to describe mild terror. "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited." Desperate quip. He could feel the stubble on Jacks neck. He hadn't shaved.

Something wiped his back, Owen pressed against it with one hand. "Ok, Relax."

That was the funniest thing Ianto had heard all day. The only way he'd relax through this was by providence of a sledgehammer to his own skull. "You want me to Relax?"

"Just don't- tense up so much."

He let himself sag forward a little more, then there was a sting near his spine that went after a few seconds. Then-

He wasn't supposed to feel it, but he did. It didn't hurt, but the area wasn't completely numb, so the sensation of the larger needle was present even if the pain wasn't. It just felt wrong.

Swallow. Gripping Jack, then trying not to tense. Take it out. He wants to shout it, but knows it won't do any good. Shallower breathing, head fuzzy. Take it out. If he starts screaming Jack's arms'll just deadlock around him. Un. Dau. Tri.

Fuck Latin.

Pedwar. Pump.

And fuck Owen too.


	28. Jack should know better at his age

At five in the morning Rhiannon had a right to be pissed off. She hadn't started shouting at him like -Ianto had half expected, but she did give him a bollocking for leaving Wales without telling her. After that she calmed down. It was good to talk to her, even if they were both too exhausted to say much. Ianto felt too guilty about lying that he was in Scotland to really talk about anything. As the door to the room groaned open, Ianto rolled himself over to face the door, seeing Jack appear with a glass of water and enough pills to kill Rasputin. "Yeah, yeah. No it's OK." He stifled a yawn, hearing Jonny talking in the background on the other end of the line. He'd probably woken the whole house up by now. He couldn't wait before calling. They deserved to know he was alright.

Jack sat on the bed next to him, placing the glass of water and pills on the table for a moment.

"O.K, yeah. I'll come and see you when I get back. Love to the kids. You too." Finally Ianto clicked the phone closed. That hadn't been nearly as bad as he thought it might be. But it had given him a powerful urge for Christmas dinner.

Reaching over, Jack took the phone from him. "She didn't call the police?" Jack reached over and pulled him into a sitting position. He reached over and started popping pills from the packets, He could hardly stand to look at Ianto. His eyes stayed fixated elsewhere. Anywhere else.

"No." Ianto shook his head, feeling himself sway slightly. Jacks shirt looked strange over his own slightly lesser frame, but the smell on it was odd comfort.

Offering his hand forward, Jack reached for the glass of water. "Owen left these for you."

He stared at the floor, Jack seemed exhausted. Maybe not physically but- "You alright?" It was a backwards question for Ianto to be asking.

Another question blanked. Another piece of Information Jack chose not to divulge. "C'mon." He pushed his hand forward, not forcibly but with intent. "Get these down you, then get some sleep."

Staring at Jacks hand, Ianto started counting the tablets. The two coloured capsules ended in –cillin, that was for the chest. "That's a lot of pills." He murmured.

"Well, you're a lot of ill." Jack retorted somewhat curtly. Ianto took the hint and dug in.

Anti virals, clotting drugs, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and Codiene. A veritable cocktail for what ails you. Ianto just tried to be thankful he was off the IV's now. This sort of combo would knock him out quickly, that was probably the idea.

"One more." Jack pushed it forward. It was a small white pill. Realisation and quiet fury.

Jacks bottom lip retracted slightly as he realised he'd been rumbled. Ianto shook his head at him humourlessly. "Really? Did you really think that was going to work?"

Standing, Jack tucked his hands into his pockets, shuffling his feet ashamedly. Ianto knew why he'd done it. Being Human, Jack wanted to take the last week back, to un-do it. And of course Jack was in a position to do that. Very few people actually were. Imagine being able to erase every mistake you'd made in the past week. Especially given the consiquences those errors has brought forth. "Hoping you'd be too dopey to notice."

Then again, that was the easy way out. To pretend it had never happened. For Jack to not have to live with what went wrong. "So what, is this your solution to everything?"

Jack started to pace, odd panic. Ianto knew he wouldn't have a plan b. That was the problem with Jacks arrogant confidence. There was never a backup plan. "Talk to me Jack. Is it that hard?"

Clearly it was. The gap between words got unbearably long. "What were you going to tell me?"

"I don't know." Jack mumbled, not daring to make eye contact.

" How were you going to explain-"

" I don't know!" It wasn't supposed to be yelled but he was too unsettled to control it. He sat back down next to Ianto, shoulder to shoulder now. "I wasn't thinking." His arm crept across Iantos back and Jacks hand settled on his shoulder. "I just thought it'd be easier on you."

Fingers dug into Iantos shoulder. He didn't feel the need to shrug Jack off. "You could have put it in the water." Ianto pointed out, "I'd never have known."

" You'd've passed out too quickly."

Breathing a dry laugh, Ianto shook his head. He couldn't believe he'd made it back to Jacks bed after everything to be having this conversation. His eyes watered, then tears finally fell. "I'm too tired for this." His head fell on Jacks shoulder, and Jacks arm squeezed around him.

Codiene starts to take hold. Jack lent him back against the pillows and pulled the duvet over. Limbs feel weak. Eyes won't stay open.

Footsteps. Darkness. Duvet damp with sweat. Door creaks open. Light Flickers on. Too bright.

"Give me your arm mate." Owen still sounds exhausted. Takes the blood sample.

"What's the time?"

"Nine in the morning."

Light flicks off. Door closes. Crushing Darkness. Hacking Cough, weak chest.

Shirt wet through. Darkness. Jack leant over him. Water, Pills. Hand on the forehead. Too sick to move.

"Go back to sleep."

Footsteps. Darkness. Duvet discarded on the other side of the bed. Door creaks open. Light flickers on. Too bright.

"Give me your arm." Owen sounds better, but annoyed. Blood sample.

"What's the time?"

"About twelve hours since you last asked."

Light flicks off. Door closes. Darkness. Stomach aches from being empty.

Running. Legs don't work. Falls down. Wakes up gasping. Jack sat on chair beside him, hand reaching across. Water. Pills. Calmer.

Footsteps. One, two, three. Hunched up, grasping a pillow. Door creaks, light on, too bright.

"Give me your arm."

No pleasantry exchange. Blood sample. Light off. Door closes. Darkness. Alone.

Light on. Focus. Jack stood turned away from him, changing his shirt.

Too much sleep. Exhausted from it. Too tired to move.

"I hate that shirt." Ianto croaked.

Jack turned to him, puzzled. Doubly surprised by Ianto being awake and communicative.

"It's a rubbish colour on you."

Half chuckle. Bizarre. "See you later."

Light clicks off, Jack hesitates before he leaves.

Canary Wharf. Cybermen. Same old same old. Ianto longed for the days when he had recurring nightmares about his GCSE's. But this was a bit different. Baby screams were a new addition.

Footsteps. Darkness. Door open. Light on.

No movement. Crippled with depression. Wordlessly, Owen took his arm. Took blood. Light flicks off. Door closes. Tears fall.

Light on. Jack sees him and sighs. "Come on. Don't do that."

Tomato Soup. Ianto doesn't flinch. What's the point? What was the point of being in the world when Lisa wasn't? Why hadn't Jack just let him go? His life bore no great significance. He was tiny against the universe. He was only in Jacks bed to stop him feeling guilty. The bowl of soup was about as sincere as it was wanted.

Jacks voice was changed, like he'd've slapped Ianto if he hadn't feared the action would break him. "I expect you to at least look at me."

Eyes dart upward. He didn't want this. He wanted to feel better. He hadn't let himself feel that way for a long time. He didn't want the sadness. It was a start.

"C'mon. You've gotta eat something."

Suddenly the bodies stop. They aren't whole anymore. They become organs, limbs, can hardly walk on the floor for them. Hearts, lungs, like the floor of a butchers shop. Arms, legs, skulls, jaws, eyes, kidney, spleen, liver, uterus.

Awake. Saliva rush. Oh no. Had to move. Breathe deep. Head spinning. Weak. Legs shake. Stumble to the bathroom. Lights are too bright. Made it to the toilet bowl. Tomato soup had been a mistake. Bile burnt his throat. Aching ribs, convulsing Diaphragm. His calf muscle twinged. He'd put too much weight on it. Breathe.

Tears rolling. It was stupid. It was stupid to cry over it. It had never looked like the baby they found in the chapels. It wasn't really a baby. It was a pile of cells. He was crying over a pile of cells they hadn't even wanted. The Cybermen had just dumped it on the floor with all the other unwanted bits of humanity. There'd been so much else to cry about that day.

Days before Lisa had sat on the bathroom floor and cried, clutching a pregnancy test. He'd panicked and made her a cup of tea. He didn't know what else to do.

Retching. Empty now. Burning though. Very hot. Lay down on the tiles. They were cool against him.

There was no body. No evidence. She hadn't managed a Doctor's visit. There was nothing to show for its existence. Only the knowledge of it. It was all he had. He didn't want to dilute it.

How could he ever tell Jack anyway? That really put it into perspective. At Jacks age... it was more than likely he'd outlived his own child. Maybe more than one. How could he ever cry about this to him?

So hot. Bile burns his throat. Closes his eyes.

Time was elastic. He had no idea how long he had been there, although if Jack had kept his promise to Owen it hadn't been longer than an hour. But Ianto couldn't fight the feeling Jack had been lax in his duties. It would explain him verging on freaking out when he found him on the floor.

Jack keeps saying his name. Panicking. He breathed with relief as Ianto managed to speak. "I'm alright." he slurred, still semi-conscious. "I just needed to lie down." Jacks hand touches his face, he opened his eyes. Jack put a hand to his forehead.

"You're feverish again," Jack mumbled, Pulling Ianto upright against him. Ianto's skin prickled with cold sweat and he grimaced as he realised he'd trashed another piece of clothing. Bollocks. That was Jacks shirt.

Jack pulled the shirt off him, then wiped him down. He didn't make a fuss. Mercifully he didn't say anything. Better that way. He'd done this before. It was too routine. Of course Jack had been a father. That was why he wasn't too bothered by sweat, blood and vomit. Ianto was. He felt disgusting. He hadn't shaved in god knows how long. He looked stupid with a beard, he looked like his dad. When his nails were visible they were stained with dirt and blood, he could still feel the haemovores hands on him. He wanted to wash her away. To exorcise her for good.

Trembled with the cold. Warm water looses heat quickly. Jacks hands clasp his shoulders, then he slipped his braces down and pulled his shirt off before giving it to Ianto.

"Oh no." Came an elongated groan.

Jack smiled. Glad Ianto's opinions on his dress sense had come back to haunt him. "Well, if you throw up on this one I'll throw it out."

"Throw up just looking at it."

Ianto was shaking, his legs had been reduced to jelly. He had on reflection no idea how he'd made it to the bathroom. Jack gave him water which he choked down. Tucked him back in. As he stood Ianto grabbed him by the hand.

"I'm not going anywhere." He sat down on the edge of the bed.

Room was spinning. Not throwing up again. Had enough. Air was stale. Closed his eyes. "Talk to me."

"About what?"

Why couldn't he make this easy? What was so bloody hard about throwing him a conversation topic? "Anything." He said before a moments consideration. "What's it like out there?"

"Still raining." Came the dumb, obvious reply that didn't really make a conversation. How could anyone of Jacks knowledge and intelligence be so thick?

"Not bloody Cardiff," He moaned through gritted teeth. "The universe. You're from the fifty-first century. You've travelled the universe. I've only left Europe once. What's it like out there?"

The silence was exasperating. This wasn't a conversation. In fact this was symptomatic of their whole relationship. Not that Ianto wanted to start having in depth talks about their feelings. But actually holding a conversation about something, it wasn't anything that impinged on Jack. It was normal. It was what real people did, when they were in real relationships. Well maybe that said it all.

He saw Jack struggle with something to say. Words seemed to evade him. Oh for the love of...

"You never say. And we only ever see the bad stuff. The invading hordes. Tell me there's something good out there."

Oh it wasn't a big ask. It wasn't like asking his name or age. Just some glimmer, something. Finally it came, slow and considered at first.

"Cancri Af."

The words bounced around the room, Ianto opened his eyes to see Jack smiling. It wasn't the weak, terribly acted reassurance smile that thinly veiled disaster. It was a billion dollars of orthodontistry.

"The sixth planet in a binary star system. The planet itself is uninhabited but one of the moons is populated. The planet is a gas giant and always visible in the sky, and there are two sunsets a day."

Ianto put his head on Jacks shoulder. He could have been telling him the moon was made of cheese, Ianto wouldn't have minded. He didn't want to interrupt, no questions. Just a constant string of words to consider.

"When the suns cross each other in the sky they have a festival where everyone gets naked and paints themselves orange. The people are beautiful, but have this weird tradition involving juggling geese."


	29. Ianto cannot get away with facial hair

Shaken awake. Owen lent over him, Jack hovered in the background.

Blood.

"Understand you had a rough night"

Strange. All last night had done was leave a bad taste in his mouth. He didn't feel drained from just lying there anymore. In fact, he felt like getting up. Still felt heavy though.

"How'd you feel now?" Jack asked, leaning in further.

"O.K actually." Ianto yawned, stretching his arms. "Not so bad. Tired."

Hot water. Oh it felt good. After days of wandering what that dank smell was, Ianto had finally realised it was him. He turned the temperature up a notch. It was near scalding, but he didn't feel cold. For what seemed like the first time in days he wasn't cold. And clean. He wasn't convinced he'd ever feel clean. The hot water purged the last of the haemovores touch. He raised his hands and smiled as the water bounced off the flesh. They were visible, which meant he'd be allowed to do things for himself. Thank God, he didn't care much for Jack cooking.

He was surprised to find Jack in the bedroom. Even more surprised that he was changing the sheets. Ianto hadn't even asked him. Jack straightened up as Ianto entered the room, tugging the corner of the duvet back into place.

Billion dollar smile, Ianto never understood how Jack could smile so open mouthed. Maybe it was the confidence of having perfect teeth nestled in his strong jaw line. "Starting to think you'd drowned in there."

Erring on the side of caution, Ianto sat on the opposite side of the bed, careful to keep the weight off his injured calf. There was lust in that smile. He resettled the towel on his shoulders, not sure if he could stand to let Jacks hands all over him. But they wouldn't be like the Haemovores. They'd be warm. "Not like there's a tub to soak in." He retorted, feeling Jacks weight shift onto the bed.

"You hungry ?" His arm reached out and pulled the towel from Ianto's shoulders.

He felt Jacks breath on his neck. Tried to stay cool. "Yeah. A bit." Jacks lips met his shoulder. Oh bloody hell. Jacks hand reached down his chest, where the claw marks of the haemovore were merely a series of increasingly thin red lines. He was careful to stay away from touching Ianto on the neck. "Stop it."

It wasn't convincing. Jacks head snaked around and paused for a moment to rest on Ianto's shoulder.

"Stop what?"

"What you're doing," Came the reply as Jacks arms ran around him and pushed down lower, no resistance was offered. The towel was pulled from around his waist. "I'm quarantined."

"O.K, I'll lock the door." Jack replied as his hand founds what they had been searching for. Ianto gasped. He was solid and swollen in Jacks hands.

The hands reach upward and push against his chest, laying him out flat. Jack kissed him, firmly on the mouth. Tongues pushed against each other. Then Jacks head moved lower, kissing him on the chest, stomach, then. 

Jesus Christ almighty mother of god fucking hell.

Usually it was the intern that performed this particular act on the boss, but Ianto couldn't find cause to complain.

Monday.

04:48 am.

Clean sheets. Warmth. Ianto opened his eyes, long enough to realise that the darkness in the room had no bearing on the time of day. That was one thing he could never get used to. A complete lack of tell tale light to let him know whether it was worth going back to sleep. Then he remembered getting up was optional.

He leant back onto Jack, still naked against him after last night. It was early, but Jack had woken enough to pull his arm around him. Warm, safe. Jacks lips touched the back of his neck. Then Jack was hard against him again. He always was more of a morning person.

"Not again," Ianto mumbled and almost caught a mouthful of pillow as he did.

Fingers ran down his skin as Jack stroked his arm. "Sorry."

"S' alright. Still tired."

Lips touched his shoulder again before Jacks chin latched over it and rested on Ianto's collarbone. "Think you'll get up today?"

"Yeah," Came the reply, positive and not a dismissive false promise.

Jacks hand reached round and tickled at the underside of Ianto's chin. "Think you could shave as well?"


	30. Archie needs to sort his yeti problem

08:40 am

Awake. After Jack had gone he'd rolled over and slept for a while, but he'd been vaguely aware of Jack coming back and trying to talk to him. Bloody Codeine. Gave him shit for brains. There was a note left at the bedside.

"Rift activity in Llandaff. Back ASAP. Call if you need anything."

That meant they were all out. That was what Jack was trying to tell him in his semi unconscious stupor.

Restless legs, so barely moved in the last few days. Hungry too. Alright, that was as much sleep as he needed. Time to get up, face the mirror and the day. And dear God that beard did look ridiculous.

The collar of his shirt didn't quite hide all marks made by the Haemovove, but Ianto couldn't have walked out there without being pressed between the perfect creases of a suit. Waistcoat, tie, jacket. Jack had picked up the wrong shoes but never mind.

The hub was empty. Silent but for the trickle of water, the hum of machinery. Coffee machine. Coffee. Hadn't had coffee in so long. It tasted bitter. The two sugars he'd lusted for weren't enough. Three. Four. Of coffee, drug of choice. He'd take it over codeines ability to make him feel like he had no knees any day.

He could smell something else.

Lilly's. They were still on Tosh's desk. They smelt good. Regardless of any connotations they might have carried.

He straightened as he heard noises on the stairs, there was a murmur as the voice became recognisable as that of Jack Harkness. Ianto froze. Maybe he should go back to bed. Maybe he wasn't ready to see everyone yet. No, no. He owed them. And they'd seen him in pretty bad shape, he shouldn't be embarrassed about it. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't like the whole Lisa thing. Walking back in, legs shaking, part hoping and part dreading Jack'd throw him out. It couldn't be that bad. They were his friends... well... Gwen was.

Here they come, they were standing by the rolling door. Jacks voice permeated the door and drifted into the empty space.

The door rolled back. Hold on, Ianto knew this story.

" It was like eight feet tall! So I say to Archie..."

Jacks voice was interrupted by a welsh accent who knew the story verbatim.

"Next time I come to Scotland, you'd better've sorted out your Yeti problem."

The group stopped and turned to him. Jack smiling, slightly bemused and feeling a little sheepish that Ianto knew the story so well.

"Heard Yetis on the Glasgow metro before."

Owen of course was the first to respond with a blithe remark of "Bloody hell it lives."

At the back of the group Gwen pushed passed the others and Jumped on Ianto, nearly knocking him backwards. Her arms squeezed him with enthusiasm. "Hello Gwen." He managed through crushed diaphragm.

"Careful, you could knock him down with a feather." Owen added, pulling at her shoulder but not extracting her from her fellow countryman. He looked Ianto up and down. "You still look like shit."

"Thank you Owen, I return the compliment." Ianto retorted. Compas Mentas that you bastard.

Gwen dismissively waved at Owen as he walked away, much more interested in Ianto right now. "Ignore him. How do you feel?"

There was a mild shrug as he replied. "O.K."

"You had us bloody worried." She smiled, not sure what to really say next. He looked OK. He looked like Ianto again. Wrapped up in that suit he looked the norm. He wasn't the shivering, half transformed victim dying in her arms a few days ago. She hoped he couldn't remember that.

Gwen had been looking at him for too long. He was unsettled. He fumbled a reply. "Yeah, me too."

She shuffled her feet. Didn't know what else to say. It was hard to come up with anything without mentioning it all in more detail. She looked at the cup still in his hand." You're out of coffee." She snatched it out of his hand. "I'll get you a refill."

She walked away without giving Ianto time to refuse. Tosh stepped nearer to him but didn't get too close. She never did. "Thank you for the flowers." She said sincerely, if somewhat stiffly.

"You're welcome." He nodded politely, before Tosh gave a shy smile and went back to work.

Touching him on the shoulder, Jack stepped forward, "Hey." He pulled Ianto to one side slightly. "You feel up to this?"

"No" The reply was very honest. Jack could appreciate that much, but Ianto felt the need to elaborate. "But I'll just get miserable sat back there by myself. Don't want to be alone right now."

"O.K." jack conceded the notion of letting Ianto work. "Take it easy. Make yourself useful but don't do anything strenuous." Ianto nodded in acknowledgement. "And cheer up." Jack added turning away.

There was nothing worse than being told to cheer up. As far as Ianto was concerned he felt it counterproductive. Before Jack could step away, Iantos hand strayed forward and seized Jacks braces, pulled them and watched them snap. He knew exactly how to wind Jack up.

"HOW MANY TIMES!"

Returning the cup to Iantos hand, Gwen giggled as Ianto smiled, rather liking the way he had upturned his mood.


	31. George Alagiya needs a better tie

Friday.

Jack was talking again as Ianto woke with a slight start. Bugger. Fallen asleep again. That's right. He'd taken more pain killers for his leg. Owen said there was a small tear in the muscle. Bloody hurt though. He'd gone to sleep with Hugh Edwards talking, but now he'd been replaced by George Alagiya. For those who didn't speak BBC news 24, it was sometime after ten o'clock.

"I'm awake." He mumbled in reply of whatever Jack had been saying to him.

Bemused, Jack smiled. "Of course you are."

Looking around, the hub was empty, yeah. It was that time on a Friday. "Everyone gone?"

"Yep." Jack replied sinking onto the sofa next to him. He showed him one sheet of paper amongst many. "What's this I found on my desk?"

Staring forward, Ianto didn't look at what Jack was showing him. George's tie was an odd choice. Why did news readers have such bad ties? "That's an invoice."

"For a suit?"

He shrugged as Jack turned the page. "Amongst other things."

Out of the corner of his eye he watched Jack scan the page before he found the final figure.

"You want me to pay your gas bill?"

Bored of being told the world was ending, Ianto punched the button on the remote and banished George Aligiya back to the BBC newsroom. "Only for time lost so... three weeks?"

Shaking his head Jack chuckled. Well, he had said he'd make it up to him, and as far as Ianto was concerned the money involved was not to be taken lightly. "Anything else?"

As if waiting for it Ianto pounced on the opportunity. "I'd like steak and mash potatoes. And lots of gravy."

"That I'll concede."

Hmm. Being a logistics sort of man, Ianto had no idea how to pull it off. He'd settle for a curry. "Take away steak?" He retorted sceptical. "Good luck. I'm quarantined remember?"

"I'm sure we could bend some rules." Jack started, before breaking out into a broad grin. "I could always handcuff you to me. Say we're conducting a social experiment." He leaned closer, "Or we could forget dinner and get straight to the handcuffs."

Giving a small chuckle Ianto shook his head. "Not after last time. Your desk nearly broke." Oh yes. That was right, he'd meant to ask. "What happened to your desk? There's a chunk missing from it."

"Don't ask." Jack said quickly before changing the subject. "So you wanna eat out?"

Ianto considered for a moment, stretching with a yawn. "Is this a "date the boss, get away with it" scenario."

"What Owen doesn't know won't kill him."

Steak did sound good. Not as good as an "I love you," or a "I don't know what I'd do without you." That would have been nice, but it wasn't going to happen. That was the difference, and Ianto knew it was unfair to compare Jack against Lisa. Jack got up and went over to the coat stand. Ianto dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. The picture of him and Lisa had slipped to the front. He slid it out, looked it over then put it between his never used credit card and old train tickets.

Jack held Ianto's coat out to him. "You game?"

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Dear all,

Did you enjoy that? I hope you did.

Did you spot the unnecessary Monty Python reference? No? Well go back and read it again. I'm not telling you where it is. Honestly, Kids today!

What about the Tenth Doctors cameo? Did you spot him? No not Ianto calling him a wanker... there was another one.

Well, this had at least two classic who references. One in the Haemovores (or Hemovores depending on how Jack felt like pronouncing it in the scene), who were featured in Curse of Fenric. Also Yetis on the underground was featured in the now mostly lost Web of Fear.

Here is a glossary to explain some of the terms that may have evaded readers from across the pond- (though in this day and age of Wikipedia there really is no excuse).

Wanker- one who must induce self pleasure as they will not be able to find a willing partner for sexual activity. Insult. See "The Doctor."

Greasy Spoon- A term for a cafe such as one in a truck stop or working class area that predominantly serves fried food.

Knob- Another word for penis.

Pissed- Meaning drunk, not angry

Cymru- (pronounced Cum-ree) Welsh language word for Wales.

Hammer Horror- See Christopher Lee

Rohipnol- Drug that does bad things to you.

Codeine- Drug that does good things to you.

Plaid Cymru- (Pronounced Plied-Cum-ree) The Welsh nationalist party. A bunch of lovely left wing peeps who love their nation very much, but don't feel the need to tell you it's better than yours.

GCSE's- Exams endured at 16 to decide your future.

The Coral- Liverpudlian band.

The Manic Street Preachers- (Also known as "The Manics") Alternative rockers from Blackwood, South Wales. A lovely bunch of lefties who produce album after album of melancholic joy.

Roald Dahl- Writer famed for children's books. Born in Cardiff of Norwegian parentage.

Castle Anthrax- See Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

All belongs to RTD other than that. They are his characters to maim, kill and torture as he sees fit. I only borrowed them to do the same.


End file.
